Chicago Dispatch
by M.M.Blue
Summary: You know the story about the Chicago PD Intelligence Unit, but do you know anything about the Chicago Dispatch? Meet Monroe, Adam's youngest sister and a Chicago Dispatcher. She is hard working, intelligent and very sassy, but she's not like most woman. What happens when she catches the eye of the one and only Jay Halstead? Will things work out or will something break them apart?
1. Author's Notes 1

_**Author's Note**_

Hello Readers,

This isn't going to be a long note, I just wanted to introduce this story. So here it goes.

This is my Chicago PD fanfiction and I'm pretty proud of it. I just don't know what other people will think about it. It's a Jay and OC (Monroe) story and I hope you readers enjoy it. It really doesn't go with the show line, so it's more of an AU. It may have some of the episodes but not much. It's more of the behind the scenes of the Dispatchers POV.

Please favorite and review. I do enjoy reading what my readers have to say; it helps me keep writing. Also, if you have any ideas you'd like to see please don't be afraid to let me know. I would appreciate the help and input.

Thank you for reading and once again, I hope you readers enjoy what you read.

Thank you,

M

 _ **Prolog**_

 __When I'm in his arms, I feel safe and wanted.

When I look into his eyes, I get lost but somehow find peace.

When I sleep next to him, he makes all the nightmares disappear.

Before Jay Halstead came into my life, I didn't think anything was missing. Now, I can't imagine my life without him. He was able to save me when no one else could – not even myself – and I couldn't be more grateful to him. I'm willing to go through hell and back to make him stay, no matter what the cost.

The only question I have now is...

Will I be able to keep this blue-eyed detective? Or will something or someone keep us apart?


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1.**_

 _ **Dispatcher's Life**_

Mondays… Whoever came up with them should be glad they're already dead, because I would have killed them myself. I, as anyone who knew me could tell, wasn't a big fan of Mondays. The alarm clock blaring in my ears didn't help the fact I could tell today was going to be one of them days where I should have called in sick to work. I had worked at least six hours over time last week and the weekend wasn't long enough to recuperate from the long hours. And that was just an easy week.

After realizing the horrid noise wasn't going to shut itself off, I rolled over with a groan and slapped the button. Once the silence took over my ears were ringing, exactly why I hated the stupid thing. Deciding to give myself a few more minutes of peace and quiet, I rolled back over on my stomach, snuggling up under my blankets and I closed my eyes. I listened to my breathing as I thought of nothing.

I was just dozing off when my phone started to go off on the bedside table. Almost screaming, I rolled back over and grabbed my phone. I didn't even look to see who it was; I just pressed the answer button.

"What?" I growled loudly.

"Geez Roe," my brother's voice came through the phone. "You don't have to be so grumpy. Let me guess, I woke you up."

"Not exactly. I was just dozing off for another fifteen minutes of sleep – maybe longer. What do you want Adam?"

"Just wanted to see if you were still coming by the station, around two for lunch?"

"Don't I always?"

I rolled over on my back and put my hand over my eyes. These were the times where I could just kill my brother. The same routine happened every Monday, and he never got the hint I wasn't in the talking mood just after waking up. I really wasn't a morning person; haven't had been and probably never would be. You'd think he'd figure that out because of the twenty-five years he's lived with me.

"Yea, you do," Adam stated. "I was just making sure."

"Can't you just ask me in the evening on Sunday like a normal person?" I asked him. "You do live with me. You do remember, that right? It's not that hard to ask."

"Yea, but it's not as fun."

"Sure, it isn't… What time is it anyway?"

"Did you look at your alarm clock when you turned it off?"

"No, of course not."

"Well it's ten."

"Ten? Damn it Adam, can't you at least call and ask me questions an hour after I get up?"

My voice was coming out a whine, but I really didn't care at this point. Considering I didn't have to work till later this evening I could have at least slept another hour. But my brother always was the one who liked to piss me off most of the time.

"Now is that really me?" he asked, with a laugh.

"No," I muttered, "but I wish it were."

"No, you don't. You love your big brother just the way he is."

"That is questionable some days."

"Come Princess Roe Roe. Lighten up."

"You call me Princess Roe Roe one more time and you're going to wish you'd never been born."

"You say that every time, but you should be used to it by now."

"Well I'm not, and one of these days it'll happen."

"No, it won't Sis. You love me too much."

"Uhhuh."

I heard someone talking on the other side of them phone, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. My only guess was it had to be my brother's partner. They had a case going on which had pushed my brother to the edge. If they didn't get a lead soon he was going to lose it.

"Okay Al," my brother called. "I'll be right there… Hey Sis I have to go. We got a lead on this case. I'll see you at lunch."

"Sounds good," I agreed. "Call me if anything changes."

"I will."

"Bye Bubba. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye Princess Roe Roe."

"Adam!"

Just as I opened my mouth to say something he had already hung up. He was going to wish he hadn't called this morning. I threw my phone down on the bed and groaned. Now that I was fully awake, I might as well get up and get dressed of the day.

~J&M~

Once clean and shaved out of the shower, I just threw on one of my favorite shirts my brother got me when I first become a dispatcher about five years ago. It was dark blue with writing on the front which said: "911 Dispatcher"; with a headset around it. On the back it said: "It became my problem when you dialed 911." It went with my job, so it worked for me. I then put one some comfortable jeans that still hugged my curves. I'd change into my uniform once I woke up from my nap.

When I was done getting dressed I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. My hair was starting to dry, and curls were making their-self known. As I thought about what to do with it I looked myself over. I was around five feet three inches tall, with a muscle build. With the help of working out, I think the muscles I had went good with my height. My eyes were a light blue, with some yellow around the pupil, and my hair was a medium red; almost to the small of my back. As for the rest of my face, my lips were a little full and a light shade of red. I had high cheekbones and a slim nose. My skin had a slight tan to it and it was only going to get darker as the summer went on. I was lucky when it came to my skin. Most red heads I saw burnt instead of tanned so I wasn't complaining.

I have been known to be called pretty – or even beautiful – by a lot of men, but I would never agree with them. There was only one thing they wanted and that was to get into my pants. With the job I had, I got to hear all the calls that ended in tears, with the women who believed the wrong man. After a few months of getting those types of calls, the last thing I did was believe every man that came along. The man I trusted was brother, and that was it. Okay, I take that back. The men my brother worked with were trustworthy, so I guess that counted too. But sadly, that was about it in the trust department.

My mind was heading to a bad place, so I shook my head and went back to wondering what I was going to do with my hair. I decided to just put it in my ponytail considering my very kinky curls were unruly most of the time. Next, I put on a little mascara to make my eyes pop and I could say I was good to go.

I looked at my phone and it was around twelve thirty. I still had a little time before meeting my brother, so I thought it would be a good idea to go out and do some errands. They weren't going to do themselves, after all.

~J&M~

By the time, I was done with my errands it was about time to head to the station to meet up with my brother at the Bull Pin. When I got there is was one fifty and just before getting into the building I ran into Kim Burgess and her new partner – who I, by the looks of him, wouldn't trust as far as I could throw him. After Kevin Atwater got promoted to intelligence it was hard for the female cop to keep a partner. I didn't blame her; if I was a cop I would want the best partner to have my back. Not someone who got me into trouble or put me in danger. She did tell me some of her stories about the new partners that she had, and I was glad I wasn't her.

Kim and I said hello but didn't talk long because they were going out on a call and I was going to be late meeting my brother. When I walked in Trudy Platte, the desk Sergeant, buzzed me in without a second glance in my direction. I told her thank you as I opened the gate door and climbed the stairs to the open second room office. The room was almost empty with just a few detectives I could see. My brothers desk was around the corner so I hadn't spotted him yet.

I could see Antonio Dawson sitting at his desk, along with Erin Lindsey and my brothers partner Alvin Olinsky at theirs. Looking back at the Sergeants office in the very back, I could see Hank Voight – my brother's boss – sitting at his desk reading papers from a file. It seemed like everyone else was either out for lunch or out on a lead.

Erin looked up to see me walking down the hall and smiled. I put a finger to my lips to tell her to stay quiet. She nodded her head and I glanced around the corner and saw my brother was reading some papers like Voight was.

"You know," I said, watching him jump ten feet in the air, "if I knew I was going to have to wait I would have just stayed home."

We both knew I was being a smartass, but he glared at me anyway. I just smiled my sweet smile – the one he couldn't resist – and he stopped glaring. Everyone in the room was looking in our direction right now, but that wasn't new. This was a side of Adam they rarely saw, and they liked to see him with his little sister.

"Come here Roe," Adam ordered, patting a chair that sat beside his desk. "Just give me a few more minutes then we'll go to lunch."

"Alright," I shrugged.

I sat with him for about five more minutes – as quiet as I could be – and he was done. We walked a couple of blocks down to our favorite place called Hashbrowns and we were seated right away. We've been there so many times everyone knew us. All the waitress had to ask us was do we want our usual – after getting our drinks – and went to go tell the cook.

"So, what's your schedule like this week Sis?" Adam asked.

"I work from ten p.m. till eight a.m. all this week," I told him. "Then I'm off Sunday and Monday. Next week I work twenty-four hours Wednesday, and Friday; I go in at noon and get off the same time. Tuesday and Thursday, I work nine p.m. and get off at five a.m. Then my boss was nice enough to let me have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off."

"That doesn't sound very fun."

"It's not a new thing for me, remember."

"Yea. That wasn't very fun for me either."

"You weren't the one working."

"No, but I was the one that had to put up with you."

"You weren't the only one."

He didn't get a chance to say anything, our food was brought to our table. I had the Hashbrown wedge salad; it was an eight ounce New York strip steak with grilled chicken breast served with a wedge of lettuce and buttermilk ranch dressing. Adam got a BBQ chicken wrap; it had grilled chicken breast, bested in BBQ sauce with melted Swiss cheese and wrapped in a flour tortilla.

We talked here and there as we ate; enjoying each other's company, like we always did. He asked me if I was going to try and get some sleep before work and I told him that's what my plan was. I was going to be up all night anyway so it was best I slept. That way I wouldn't fall asleep on the job, which was hard not to do sometimes. It depended on how many calls we had.

When we were done, it was time for him to go back to work. We walked to the station, but this time I didn't go in. It was time for me to go back to bed. He gave me a hug and a kiss on the top of my head.

"Be careful Sis," Adam whispered.

"Don't worry about me Bubba," I told him.

"I always do. Do you have that gun I gave you?"

"I never leave the house without it."

"Good."

"Will you be home before I go to work."

"I don't think so. This case is almost wrapped up."

"Okay."

"Now go get some sleep. I'll see you at dinner – instead of lunch – tomorrow."

"Yes, Sir."

"Bye Roe. Love ya."

"I love ya too. Bye Bubba."

We pulled apart and went our separate ways. As I made my way to my truck in the parking garage, I could have sworn someone was following me, but when I turned around I didn't see anybody. Putting my hand in my purse, I grabbed my 9mm Beretta, but kept it concealed. I slowly looked from side to side, but I still couldn't see anyone. After making sure no one was around I almost ran to my truck.

That wasn't the first time I thought I felt like someone was either watching or following me. This has been going on for a while. I thought about telling my brother but didn't want to worry him. It was probably nothing anyway.

~J&M~

I set my alarm so I would be up an hour and a half before I was supposed to be at work when I got home. Jumping in bed it didn't take me long to fall asleep. When my alarm went off it took me about five minutes to realize it was going off. I was in the middle of a nightmare, and I couldn't get out of it. I shot up into a sitting position, my hands flying up to my face. Shaking hard, I breathed a sigh of relief when I was finally awake, and hurried to turn off my alarm.

Breathing hard, I noticed I was covered in sweat. The nightmare still swam through my brain and it was hard to shake. I was running as fast as I could to get away from him, but it wasn't enough. He grabbed me and through me down on the ground, jumping on top of me. His face was angry and he wouldn't stop hitting me, no matter how many times I told him to stop. When he finally did, I watched as he grabbed my gun, pointed it at me and then pulled the trigger.

I sat in my bed for a few more minutes as I calmed down. When I felt like I was fine I got up and put my uniform on. Once I was done with that I made me a snack for work. Next I made dinner for Adam to warm up when he got home; leaving a note on the fridge to let him know.

When I realized I didn't have anything left to do, I headed out the door around nine thirty and made it to work around nine fifty. Things didn't pick up at work until around two in the morning. This is when the bars were closing and people were starting to get rowdy. I was starting to wonder if my usual's were going to call and right on que the phone rang.

"9-1-1 what's your emergency?" I asked, after pressing the answer button on my headset.

"Yea, I would like to report my husband threatin' me," the familiar voice slurred over the phone, "and he's been hittin' me."

Holding back a sigh I rolled my eyes and tried to sound like I was there to help. The caller was someone I talked to at least once a week. The woman's name was Tammy and she always called whenever her and her husband Bill got drunk. Supposedly he was always hitting on her but she never felt him. There wasn't much I could do there.

"Alright," I muttered. "Is this Tammy?"

"Yes, it is," she grumbled. "How do you know?"

"We've talked before ma'am."

"We have?"

"Yes ma'am. Would you like to me to send a car down?"

I knew even if I did she wasn't going to do anything. I knew her husband had been in jail at least six times in the past year, and she, herself, had been in jail about three. They were from the south and they were drunks who knew they were going to get into trouble, but did nothing to change. This wasn't anything new to me; it happened more than people realized. I started hearing Bill on the other end of the enough, screaming at his wife.

"Yes, please," Tammy mumbled. "Bill get away from me."

"Where are you located in your house?"

"I jus' got into the bedroom."

"Alright."

Doing my thing, pressed another button so I could hear Tammy screaming at me to send someone over as soon as possible – but I couldn't hear her – while also looking for the closest possible unit to send to the scene. I got on my computer and oddly enough Kim and her partner were the closest car. They were going to like this.

"Hey," I called, "Kim you there?"

"10-4," Kim answered.

"Yea, this is Monroe, and I have a 415 for you and your partner."

"Let me guess; Tammy and Bill."

"You got it. She says she's in the bedroom."

"When is she not. She needs to find a new hiding spot."

"You're telling me."

"Alright, 10-4 we're on our way."

"10-4.

Knowing they were on their way, I got back on the line with a still screaming Tammy. I rolled my eyes again, but still stayed calm. All I needed to do was to get through this call.

"Are you sendin' someone or not?" she slurred.

"They're on their way Tammy," I told her. "I'm going to stay on the line with you until they get there."

"They better hurry. He's gonna break down the door."

' _Of course, he is,_ ' I thought to myself.

"They're not far ma'am," I said instead, as I heard the sirens getting louder. "I can hear them pulling up."

"Oh, thank god. Took 'em long enough."

For the third time, I rolled my eye and shook my head. These calls were getting out of hand, but until one of them left or both of them stopped drinking they were just going to keep happening. All I could do was sit back and do my job, which I loved most days.

"We're at the scene," Kim informed me, over my scanner. "Stand by."

"10-4," I answered.

"They're at the door," Tammy said.

"Okay ma'am. I'm going to let you off the line so you can talk to them. Alright?"

"Yea."

I didn't even get a chance to say bye before she hung up. I sighed and leaned back in my seat, waiting on Campson and Kim to get back with me. About a half hour later Kim called for me on the scanner.

"Monroe?" she called.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"We arrested the husband. He was really drunk and wouldn't sit down to talk. Then he tried to attack Campson, so he's going into the drunk tank tonight."

"Sound good. You two be careful on the rest of your shift."

"10-4."

"10-4."

~J&M~

The rest of my shift wasn't that bad to be honest. It was still busy but none of the calls were as annoying as Tammy and Bill's – I actually got to help people. When I got home, Adam had already gone to work. Not even bothering to eat, I stripped down to my underwear and threw on one of my brother's old t-shirts – then got under my blankets, curled up with my body pillow, and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2.**_

 _ **Plans**_

The next morning, I woke up around four. I wasn't really feeling the seven hours of sleep thing, but I had no choice. I had to go meet my brother at Kelly's Cajun Grill for dinner. Dressing in a fresh uniform I brush my teeth and headed out the door. We met up at the restaurant, of course my brother was the first one there. Once I walked through the door, we were seated right away; like always as we ate, we also talked. Adam asked me about shift the night before, and I told him about the Bill and Tammy call. This wasn't new to him either. He had been on the scene of that call more than once and he was glad he wouldn't have to go back.

When I asked Adam about his shift he was glad to say he was done with the case. Voight told them starting Friday they had the whole next week off – unless a new case showed up, which it probably would – and he was going to spend it with his girlfriend Wendy. He also informed me that he was going to ask her to marry him. I kept my mouth shut, but I wanted to tell him that wasn't such a good idea. This would be his second fiancée and I wasn't very happy with this girl to begin with. We just didn't get along but Adam didn't care which ticked me off a bit. Sadly though, if he was happy I guess I was happy.

After our meal, Adam asked if I wanted to go back to the station with him for a little bit because everyone missed me. I told him that would be fine considering I didn't have to be to work for a couple of hours and I had nothing better to do. He had walked over so we both took my 2013 Black F-150.

When we got there Al, Hank, and Antonio were standing in the middle of the Bull Pen and they all look excited to see me. This right here was my family. I didn't have any friends outside the Chicago PD, Med, and the fire department. We were all a family, in one way or another, and we all treated each other as such. Once Adam became a part of the Chicago PD family, so did I.

"Hey Stringbean," Voight greeted, giving me a hug. "How've you been?"

"Hi Hank," I smiled, returning the hug. "I've been good. Busy at work."

Next in line to greet and hug me was Al.

"Hey sweetheart," he muttered in my ear. "Glad to see you're doing okay."

I barely got out of Al's arms when Antonio pulled me into a tight embrace. Wrapping my arms around his neck I laughed; he was like another brother to me and it was nice to have another one.

"What's up Sugar," he laughed. "Why didn't you come say hi to me yesterday?"

"Sorry Antonio," I told him letting go of him. "I had to go home and take a nap before my shift or I would have come back up and talked for a bit."

"You know I'm just messing with you."

"Yea. I know."

"I see you're ready for work," Voight commented.

Completely forgetting I had my uniform on, I looked down and saw he was right. I glanced back up at him and smiled.

"Yea," I agreed. "I figured I wasn't going to go home when we were done eating dinner and I was right."

"So, Mo," Al jumped in, getting my attention, "are you going to Molly's Saturday night?"

"Oh. I didn't know you guys were going to Molly's on Saturday."

Glancing over at my brother I gave him a 'are you kidding me look'. He smiled sheepishly at me and rubbed the back of his neck. I've need that look a lot. He used it when he knew he forgot to tell me something.

"Yea," Adam said, as he put his hands in his pockets. "That's my fault. We're going to Molly's to celebrate the case being closed. I was going to tell you over dinner, but I forgot."

"Uhhuh," I muttered. "That's what you always say after the fact."

He was going to open his mouth to argue, but Voight interrupted him. Good thing too or we would have argued the whole time I was there.

"So, you coming or what, Kid?" he asked in his gruff voice.

"Of course, I am Hank," I told him. "I love celebrating your closed cases with you guys."

We stood and talked for about another hour. They asked me about my work, more about how I was doing, etc. As always Voight told me he had a spot open on the team if I ever wanted it. Looking over at my brother I could tell that he wasn't happy about the offer. I laughed, and I turned Voight down once again; telling him I was happy with the job I had, but I thanked him anyway. Everyone watched as my brother relax and we all laughed at him.

Not long after Al looked down at his watch.

"When did you say you had to work?" he asked.

"Ten," I answered.

"Well it looks like you need to get going," Voight stated.

It was my turn to look down at my watch; he was right. It was nine twenty and it took me twenty-five minutes to get there from here. I let out a sigh, and I was suddenly tired. Yes, I loved my job, but there were just times where I wanted to have time to myself, and not just on weekends. I did have to admit though, I was making pretty good money.

"I guess no rest for the wicked," I muttered, with a small laugh.

"Ain't that the truth Stringbean," Voight smiled. "I'm going to have to talk to your boss. It doesn't seem like you're getting enough time off."

"I take it Adam told you about my shifts for the past few months."

"Yep."

"I'll stick it out. I've got vacation time coming up here soon. I'll use it if work doesn't slow down."

"Then you can come hang out here," Adam jumped in. "If you want too."

"I would like that, but I wouldn't want to be a bother."

"You could never be a bother here Sugar," Antonio muttered, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "We all like you too much."

I looked up at Voight and he nodded his head in agreement.

"You're always welcome here Stringbean," he informed me. "You should know this by now."

"Thanks Hank," I smiled.

"Now problem. Now get out of here before your late."

"Yes Sir."

Everyone gave me a hug goodbye; last to do so was my brother. He held me tight and I returned it.

"Stay safe Roe," he told me.

"I will," I said, pulling back. "Text me when you get home?"

"Of course."

From the corner of my eye I saw someone coming up the stairs. I turned to look at him, and my heart skipped a few beats before starting up again. There was a very good-looking man walking toward us, with his eyes down toward us. He had to be around five feet ten inches tall, with a lean muscular build. His hair was a dark brown; short on the sides and long on the top. From what I could see of his face he had an angular jawline with stubble lightly growing. When he lifted up his eyes and looked at all of us I could see nothing but ice blue orbs, and my heart skipped a beat again. This man was absolutely gorgeous.

When he saw us standing there talking, he stopped in his tracks. He slowly looked me up and down and I could feel a light blush spread across my cheeks. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"Roe," Adams said turning my face towards him. "You okay?"

"Yea," I nodded, "Just not looking forward to going back to work."

"You'll be fine. Do you want me to walk you to your truck?"

"No, I'm alright, but thanks."

"Molly's Saturday," Antonio said.

"Of course. See you guys there."

I smiled at the man standing beside Voight. My brother gave me one last hug. When we let go he pushed me in the direction of the stairs. As I walked I couldn't stop staring at the man in front of the group. He still hadn't moved or taken his eyes off of me. I put a small smirk on my face as I got closer to him. He fallowed my every move, even turning around as I walked by. As I walked passed I looked him up and down, before turning back to look where I was going down the stairs.

When I was around the corner I stopped, and it seemed once I was out of sight, the man shook himself out of his trance.

"Who was that?" he asked.

' _I'd like to know the same thing,_ ' I thought.

"That was Monroe Grace," my brother answered. "She's my sister."

I let out a sigh and shook my head. Only my brother would say my middle name instead of my last when telling someone who I was. He was such a pain in these situations.

"I didn't know you had a sister," the man stated.

"He has two," Antonio chimed in. "Mo's the baby."

"Well now you do," my brother muttered ignoring him. "So, don't even think about it."

His voice was threatening, and I rolled my eyes at how protective he was being. I was sure I could take care of myself; I've done it before.

"I wasn't going to do anything," the man said. "I was just wondering who she was. Is that so wrong?"

"I don't care," my brother growled. "Don't mess with her Jay. I mean it."

"Ruzek, Halstead," Voight jumped in. "Cool it."

So, the guy's name was Jay. Interesting name, but in a way it kind of fit him. He was gorgeous either way. Satisfied with the information I got I turned around and walked down the rest of the stair. As I walked out the door I ran into Erin. We talked for a few seconds, but she hurried me off when she realized I had to go to work. We said our goodbyes and I walked to my car which was down the street.

Much like the day before it felt like someone was fallowing me. I put my hand in my purse again, this time actually taking my Beretta and making it sure it was loaded. I pulled the hammer back and put my finger on the trigger, ready for anything that could happen. I didn't put my gun away until I made it to my truck. As soon as I was inside I locked my doors, turning on my vehicle and got the hell out of there.

~J&M~

I had finally calmed down once I got to the Dispatch Center. I didn't see anyone fallow me as I drove to work so that help calm my nerves. Sitting down in my seat, I let out a sigh before putting my headset on. An hour had past and I got a call I never liked getting. I pressed the button to answer; forgetting everything but this caller right now.

"9-1-1, what is your emergency?" I asked.

"I uh…" a male's voice sighed. "I just killed my wife."

My blood ran cold. This call was one of the worst calls I could get. I rather have a call from Tammy than this from someone telling me they killed their wife. I couldn't let it get to me; I needed to be professional.

"Okay," I said without hesitation. "What's your name sir?"

"Jack," the man mutter.

"Your last name?"

"Sabler."

I entered it into the computer continuing to ask him questions; his telephone number, address, etc. Then came the questions that I dreaded.

"Alright," I mutter. "You just said you killed your wife?"

"Yes," he agreed.

"Okay, are you still armed with the gun or a knife?"

Knowing I wasn't going to be able to keep him calm and talk to the units that needed to be sent, I pressed a button on my station to call for someone to help me. They were there in just seconds looking over my notes. Her name was Dawn and she's one of my favorite co-workers; she'd been working here for ten years and she was a shift supervisor. Once she figured what was going on she sat down at the computer beside me and started working with the units.

"It was a gun," the man told me, as this was happening. "And no. it's on the sink. I'm not a threat to anybody… I'm not sure what happened."

"Alright," I said to him. "Is she still breathing or conscious and able to talk?"

"No. She's, she's–"

I knew what that meant, and I didn't like it, but I knew this guy did feel bad or else he was acting like this bad and trying to work with me. Not every call was like this.

"Okay," I muttered calmly. "Where is she at in the house, and where are you?"

"She's laying on the floor where…" the man hesitated, not being able to finish his sentence, "and I'm in the kitchen."

"I know you don't want to say it Jack but where is she?"

"She's… she's on the ground by the back door."

"Outside?"

"No, inside."

"Alright."

Typing as fast as I could, I wrote down everything he was telling me. My blood was still cold and I didn't know if there was going to be away to warm it back up.

"In fact," Jack mumbled, "I'm stepping outside now and I'll sit on the front stoop. The gun's in the kitchen on the counter."

"Okay Sir," I said, letting him know I was still there. "I'm going to need you to put your hands up when they get there. They're going to need to see your hands so they know you're not armed."

"I will. Like I said, I'm not going to put up a problem."

"I'm going to need you to tell me what exactly happened."

"She – she took all the money out of our bank account on my birthday on Saturday… And you guys were out here a couple of times because I reported it. And she was – I don't know. She was gone… When I came home she was here, and she just wouldn't talk to me. She… just kept saying 'talk to my lawyer.' I don't know – it just happened… I never wanted to do anything."

He was having a hard time telling me what he did, and I could understand why. I could tell he was starting to cry and he was breathing heavy. I knew he killed his wife, but I still felt bad for him. It sounded like he really did love her, and didn't want her to leave. Sadly, she was going to do it anyway, without telling him why.

"Try to breathe for me okay Jack," I gently told him.

"I know," the caller sighed. "I'm alright. I mean… I'm not alright. God forgive me. Oh god."

"I'm just going to stay on the phone with you until the police get there okay?"

"Yeah, I can hear sirens."

"Right."

"Oh, my God."

My heart was breaking for this man. He really felt bad for what he did; he really did love his wife. She just didn't love him and she was going to take everything his man had as she left him.

"How long ago did this happen?" I asked.

Anything I could get out of him needed to go in the report anyway.

"What?" Jack asked.

"How long ago did you shoot her?" I repeated.

"Just a few minutes before I called you."

"Alright."

"Oh my god."

"Okay. Where did you shoot her?"

I knew asking him all these questions wasn't the best thing to do, but as a dispatcher you need to get as much as you can so you could tell the units what to expect.

"I don't know," he sniffled. "I don't know. It's multiple times. I really don't know."

"You don't know how many times?" I asked.

"No."

"Okay. And you guys are the only ones at the house, right?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. What kind of gun was it?"

Looking at Dawn and she nodded. I knew she was telling me I was doing a good job on this call.

".40-caliber sig," Jack answered.

"Okay," I continued. "Do you still hear the sirens coming?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. There's no animals there that could attack the officers?"

"No."

I nodded my head even though he couldn't see me. This was just crazy. I was surprised I was staying so calm. Yes, I had many calls like this before, but they never got any easier and not many people were as cooperative as this man.

"Here's your first car," Jack notified me. "Here's your second car."

"I'm going to have you hang up with me, okay Jack," I told him. "I want you to show them you have nothing in your hands."

"Okay."

"Alright. Bye"

"Bye."

Once we hung up and leaned back in my seat and sighed. The whole call only took about ten minutes, but it felt like it took an hour. I looked over at Dawn, as she got out of her seat. She put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

"Good job kid," she said proudly.

"Thank you Dawn," I nodded. "My question is why was she there at eleven at night?"

"Maybe she thought he was out or a sleep."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Hopefully the rest of the night is quiet."

"Your telling me."

Dawn got her wish; it was slow for the rest of the night. As work dragged on I found myself thinking of that Jay guy who worked with Adam. I couldn't help but wonder why I hadn't seen him around before; maybe he was new and just started there. Whatever it was, I kind of hoped I got to see him again, and that was weird, because I never hoped I seen a certain man again. Oddly enough this man was different, and I wanted to know why.

~J&M~

Once I got home I looked in my brother's room and he was out cold. I smiled and walked to my room, glad he was getting his much-needed sleep. I stripped my close off, put a big baggy shirt on, all as I was making my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I was done with that I curled up under my covers, grabbed my body pillow and zonked out within minutes with a pair of icy blue eyes flashing through my head.


	4. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3.**_

 _ **Molly's**_

The rest of the week passed by faster than I thought it would. Work was pretty calm after that call on Tuesday so I was pretty happy about that. I didn't think I could handle another one that week. There was also one more call of Tammy and Bill, a few days after I had the privilege of talking to her. Thank god, I wasn't the one who answered that; I don't know how I would have handled that one either. I knew I would have said what I thought of the whole situation and probably would have gotten fired.

I worked from five p.m. Friday till five a.m. Saturday – the shift was pretty slow – which meant I could sleep till at least three in the afternoon. I would have slept longer if my brother didn't wake me up. He was very good had doing that.

"Hey Roe," Adam whispered.

All I did was groan and roll away from his voice. I needed my sleep and I wasn't going to get any with him around. Soon I felt my brother jump on my bed and I rolled back over to cuddle with my body pillow.

"Come on Sis," he muttered, shaking me, "wake up."

"You try to shake me wake one more time," I mumbled with my eyes still closed, "and you'll pull away without an arm and a bloody stump in its place."

"Why do you have to be so grumpy?"

"If you had the schedules I did you'd be grumpy too, with the lack of sleep. I'm not you with the boss who sends you home at night so you can sleep in your own bed. I'm not that lucky."

"Maybe you should ask for a set schedule."

"Naw, I like my hectic life. It keeps things interesting. Now leave me alone. Let me sleep some more."

I heard Adam laugh as I tried to go back to sleep, but that wasn't going to happen. He started shaking me again, this time more violently and I ended up smacking him the face. I heard him groan in pain and I rolled over to look at him, laughing. He was holding his hand over his right eye.

"Why'd do you do that?" he exclaimed.

"Because you woke me up after a long night," I told him. "I did warn you not to bother me anymore."

"You've been sleeping for almost ten hours."

"Again, you try working the hours I work, after that being woken up by your sibling then, and only then, can you really know why I sleep so much."

"You need to get a hobby."

"I can't. I work all the time and I don't have time for a hobby. I eat, sleep, work, and repeat. Sorry."

Watching as he rolled his good eye, I gave him a smile. He couldn't help but smile back, but groaned and pulled his hand away from the eye I smacked. Blinking a few times he considered everything was good. Seeing that he was okay I rolled back over and closed my eyes.

"So, are you still coming to Molly's with me?" he asked.

"Of course, Bubba," I answered him.

"Okay good. Now get up and get dressed. We're going to eat there to. We're meeting everyone over there at four thirty."

"Why so early?"

"Just get up. Do you need a shower?"

"No."

"Well I do."

I felt him roll out of my bed and heard him walk to the door. I shoved my head into my body pillow and sighed. Maybe I could get a few more minutes of sleep; sadly, life hated me.

"I'm gonna jump in," he informed me. "If you're still in bed by the time I get out, I'm gonna dump cold water on your head."

"You do," I mumbled into the pillow, "and you might not live another day."

"Whatever you say, Princess Roe Roe."

Without warning, my eyes flew open, I grabbed one of my pillows I wasn't using and threw it as hard as I could at Adams face. He was lucky it was the only thing close enough for me to throw. I watched it make contact with my mark, but saw it didn't do anything. Groaning I fell back onto my bed, looking up at the ceiling, hearing him chuckle at my big, epic fail.

"Try throwing something harder next time Roe," Adam laughed as he walked out my door. "It might be better than a pillow."

"Go to hell Adam," I yelled.

"You'd miss me too much."

"You know, you say that all the time, but I don't really feel it."

"Whatever, just get ready. We don't want to be the last ones there."

I didn't answer that, just kept looking at the ceiling. About ten minutes after Adam left the room to take a shower, I got out of bed and picked out an outfit for that night. For a shirt, I decided on a black spaghetti strapped blouse – with a black strapless bra – the straps came together just over my collarbone. It was flowy and comfortable and I knew it was going to help me stay cool while I was in the bar. I put on some faded tight jeans to show off my long legs, with flip-flops. It looked classy casual, but also sexy at the same time.

Once I was done getting dressed I looked at myself in the mirror and wondered what to do with my hair and makeup. My hair was still kind of curly from my shower yesterday so I decided just to enhance that. I wetted it down a little bit before putting some moose in; running my hand through it, helping it dry. This helped it show off the curls and it looked kind of like a hot mess, but in a good way. I contemplated on using hair spray, but thought it looked good the way it was.

As for my makeup, I was certain – just like the rest of my look – I was going to go with a classy casual look, but with a sexy twist. I put a little foundation on with some toner, making my skin look flawless. When it came to my eyes, I used some shinny tan shadow, with some black around the outside of my eye. I put some eyeliner and mascara on happy with what I had done; seeing it made my eyes pop. I went with light pink lipstick that toned down the color of my lips.

Stepping back to looked at what I'd done with myself, I was happy with how everything turned out. I looked causal, like I was going for, but looked a little mysterious and sexy at the same time. Everything I did tonight wasn't something I normal did. I usually wore comfy clothes and just mascara for make-up, but it was a refreshing thing to do something different. Hopeful my look wasn't sexy enough to have my brother pitching a fit, either way I worked hard on this look and I wasn't going to change it.

After making sure I had my gun permit was in my wallet, I put that in my back pocket along with my phone. Next I grabbed my Beretta out of my purse and its holster off my closet door knob. It was silver with a metallic green pearl handle; my brother got me for my birthday when I turned eighteen. He said he always wanted me to be safe, and he also got me a permit to carry it in the open or in my purse – if I had one – at all times. I attached my holster on my belt and holstered the gun, putting my shirt over it – I felt safer with it around.

Just then my brother knocked on my bedroom door – perfect timing. I wasn't really sure if anyone would be carrying their guns, but I was more than happy to carry mine. It did help keep most of the men away.

"Come on Roe," he called. "You take forever. We have thirty minutes to get there."

"We don't always have to be on time you know," I sighed. "Not everyone has to be there right at four thirty."

"Well I do. Now come on let's go."

"Alright, I'm coming. Just hold your horses."

I walked over to the door and opened it. My brother was still standing there and his eyes about to pop out of his head when he saw what I was wearing, which meant here comes the hissy fit. I could see his protective side coming out, and I was already annoyed.

"What's your problem now?" I questioned, putting my hands on my hips.

"Why must you wear that?" he groaned, looking frustrated.

"I don't see anything wrong with it."

"Every guy in that bar is going to be looking at you tonight."

"Yea so? Everyone there either works for the Police Department, Hospital, Fire Department, or dispatch. They're not going to do anything to me. If a guy did anything that made me uncomfortable they would be beat to death by everyone else in the bar."

I could see he knew I was right, but he didn't want me to be. He really wanted me to change, and I let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Do you really want me to change?" I asked.

Adam looked down at his watched and groaned again really loud. Knowing him, he rather be on time than have me change and be late. I had won the battle and the war, and we both knew it. I smirked as he grabbed my hand and drug me out of the apartment to his car.

~J&M~

By the time, we got to Molly's we were ten minutes late and were the last ones there from the unit. The facility was packed; like I thought it would be. The people from the fire department, the police department, the hospital and a few women from dispatch were there, having a good time. There was no way in hell something was going to happen with all these people here.

Adam wasn't very happy with me as he parked the car a few buildings down from the bar. The look on his face showed he was irritated and I rolled my eyes once more. There were sometimes my brother acted like a two-year-old boy rather than a twenty-eight-year-old man. Whoever said women mature fast than men hit the nail right on the head in my opinion.

"You seriously can't be upset right now," I stated to him. "We would have been here earlier if you wouldn't have been worried about what I was wearing. Besides we're here now, there's really no use in acting pissy about it."

"Just get out of the car," he muttered. "I'm hungry."

I did as I was told, stepping onto the sidewalk, and waited for him to do the same. Meeting him at the end of the vehicle he put his hand on the small of my back and walked me to the door of Molly's. He opened it and let me go in first. It didn't take us long before we found his unit. There was, Voight, Antonio, Kevin, Al, and Erin; there was also Kim, and Trudy all sitting at the same table they usually did. Oddly enough, I didn't see Jay there at all. I just figured he wasn't coming and thought it was best to just forget him.

Everyone waved when they saw us and we both returned the gesture. I got a hug from everyone – included the desk Sergeant – and Adam went to get us drinks and some food after he greeted everyone. It was nice to let loose and be around friends.

"What took you two so long to get here?" Voight asked, when my brother got back with our drinks.

"This one right here, takes too long to get ready," Adam grumbled.

"That's just what we do," Kim stated, "you should know this by now. You've lived with her for how long now. Even your girlfriend takes a long time to get ready, I bet."

We all started laughing. Kim was right; most of the time it didn't take me long to get ready, but when I wanted to look nice I could take a while to get my look just right. I'm sure I wasn't the only woman that was like that.

Adam and I hadn't been there for more than an hour when I felt someone staring at me. I looked around the crowded building, as I started to panic. I was really starting to freak out about this feeling. Finally looking behind me, my eyes landed on a familiar pair for blue ones. I relaxed when I realized the person staring at me was none other than Jay. He was sitting at the bar with someone who looked a lot like him, so I had to say it was a relation of his – maybe his brother. They both had food in front of them.

When Jay saw I was looking at him he looked away. I could see his lips pulling up at the corners. Considering he looked away, there really wasn't a reason to worry about it, so I went back to the conversation in my group. I could feel someone staring at me for another hour, and every time I glanced back at Jay he was starting to look away from me. I was on my third drink when this was happening and I was finally getting irritated. Letting the liquid courage take over and I excused myself from the table, to go ask Jay what he was playing at.

He just happened to look up as I was walking over to him and I watched his mouth drop open as his eyes got wide; observing my every move. I was going to be bitchy, but he looked embarrassed and was too adorable to be bad at. When I got to where I was going, I leaned against the bar and I smiled softly at him.

"Hi," I told him.

I watched him as he closed his mouth and blinked as he shook his head. It was kind of cute. The man sitting on the other side of Jay looked at him and kind of laughed before going back to his food.

"Hey," Jay muttered back, looking back at me.

"So, question," I said, jumping right into it.

"Yea?"

"I've noticed you staring at me for the past two hours. Mind tell me why?"

He was silent; it was like he couldn't form the words. I could see the wheels turning in his head. Trying to hid my growing smile, I bit my lip and looked at him through my eyelashes. I watched as his blue eyes darken when he looked down at my lips. I don't know why, but my heart started raising; it felt like it was trying to get out of my chest.

It was quiet, but then I could hear a good song come one; _The Man I Wanna Be,_ by Chris Young. He was one of my favorite country singers. I looked at the dance floor and saw there were people starting walking out to it. Glancing back at Jay, who was still staring at me.

"Do you want to dance?" I asked, changing the subject.

"What?" he questioned, finally tuning back into the conversation.

"I said, do you want to dance?"

The man glimpsed towards where people where dancing, then turned back towards me and nodded his head. I held out my hand and he took it; an electric shock went through my arm, spreading a warm feeling throughout my body. Not letting go of each other's hand we both looked down at them. When I glanced back up at him he was looking at me and had a smirk on his face. I didn't get a chance to say anything because he got out of his seat and gently hauled me towards the dance floor.

When we get there, he turns around, still keeping his hold on my hand he put his right one on my lower back and pulls me close to him. I gasped putting my free hand on his shoulder. He kept smirking at me and started to lead us around in a circle to the beat of the music. I couldn't take my eyes off of his, and it seemed like he couldn't take his off mine.

"So," he said, breaking the silence between us, "you're one of Adam's sisters."

"Yea," I nodded.

"I didn't know he hand any siblings."

"Not a lot of people do."

"I get it; he's a private person. I am too."

I smiled up at him and he smiled back. So far this was going better than I thought it would. To be honest, I didn't even know what I was doing. This really wasn't something I did when I was out. I mostly stayed around someone I knew to stay safe, and I really didn't know this guy I was dancing with. I decided to blame it on the alcohol.

"And," Jay finally said after a few seconds of silence, "we really didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves Tuesday evening."

"No, we did not."

"Well mine is Jay Halstead, and you are–"

"Monroe Ruzek."

It came out kind of like a snap. I remember what my brother told this man who I was, just using my middle name instead of my last. I was still a little angry about that. I was also kind of upset of the mention of my older sister Kate. She and I weren't on really good term right now – to be honest we never were – and I really didn't care of the mention of her name.

Jay looked taken aback for a second before letting out a chuckle. His laugh made me weak in the knees, but I was lucky enough to keep me up right.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothin'," he said, shaking his head. "It's just you and your brother are so different yet so much alike. He can get pretty defensive too."

"I'm not being defensive."

"Yes, you are. I bet you anything you would get mad if I told you what how Adam told me who you were."

Of course, he didn't have any idea I knew already how Adam let Jay know who I was, but I wasn't going to tell him that. That would lead me to explaining I didn't leave right away to go to work on Tuesday.

"I'll take that bet."

"Oh, you will, will you?"

"Yes."

He softly smiled as he looked my face over. I just stared at his eyes; I could get lost in them. Sadly, I couldn't. We were in the middle of a conversation that I was going to win.

"How did he tell you who I was," I questioned him. "What names did he use?"

"You really want to know?" he muttered.

"Yes."

Jay hesitated, but I gave him a look telling him to spill the beans. My eyebrows were lifted and I also batted my lashes a little. He was going to say it whether he liked it or not.

"Monroe Grace," he finally admitted.

"I knew it," I grumbled.

"What's wrong with that?"

"I don't like my name, especially my middle name."

"Grace? What's the matter with that name?"

"It means elegant and refined. I'm anything but those things."

"Now that doesn't seem right to me."

I just stared at him, as his words sank in. By that time, the song had ended and the we stopped dancing, but he didn't let me go. We were out of the way of the other dancers so we didn't have to move. The man before me, let go of the hand he was holding and moved it to my hip, but he really didn't get that far.

His hand landed on my gun instead; he looked down, with eyes wide, and lifted up my shirt just enough to see the gun in its hostler. He got a small smile on his face letting my shirt fall back to hide my weapon. Looking back at me his smile got bigger, and there was a twinkle in his eye. His hand went to the small of my back to meet his other one. Jay didn't hold me close though; he gave me enough room to pull away if I needed too, but I didn't. The alcohol was still coursing through my veins and I was glad it was or who knows what I would be doing right now; probably hyperventilating

"Do you have a permit for that?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do," I informed him, proudly. "My brother insisted I get one when I turned eighteen. He's very protective."

"Well if you don't know how to you use it, I can help you with that. We could go to the shooting range sometime and I could teach you."

To be honest, I didn't have the heart to tell him I already knew how to use one. I always would go to the shooting range with my brother and dad when I was younger. The truth was – even though I didn't want it to be – I wanted to see him again; I wanted to be around him. But my brain was telling me to watch out for whatever this man was capable of. It told me to never get close to a man especially this one. Who knows what he's libel to do.

Between my brain and my heart, I usually listened to my brain. This was one of those times where I listened to my heart instead, hoping I wouldn't regret my decision somewhere down the road.

"Yea," I told him. "I would like that."

"Okay," he said. "Well as you probably already know I have this whole week off. If you like to do it then that would work, unless you're busy."

"I'm off tomorrow and Monday."

"Okay, how about Monday then?

"That would be prefect."

"Great. How about ten? I'll pick you up around nine thirty."

"Sounds good to me. Should I give you my number?"

Jay nodded his head and let me go. I already felt cold, but I tried not to show him letting me go out of his arms bothered me. I watched him as he took his phone out of his pocket and put it into my right hand.

"There you go," he stated.

"Thank you," I smiled.

I navigated my way through his phone until I got to his contacts and put my number in it. Then I handed it back to him.

"Great," he acknowledged. "I'll text you in the morning."

"Perfect," I nodded.

Just then my brother came out of nowhere. By the look on his face I could tell he was happy. I knew what his problem was and I rolled my eyes at his behavior.

"Hey Roe," Adam greeted.

Then he looked at the man I was talking too.

"Jay," he muttered.

"Adam," Jay nodded.

Once that exchange was over my brother looked over to me again.

"Are you ready to go Sis?" he asked

At this I rolled my eyes again, for felt like the hundredth time that day. I really didn't understand why he was like this, but there was nothing I could do about it. He was just being my brother.

"Sure, Adam," I shrugged. "Why not?"

"Okay good," he stated. "I made plans with Wendy tonight so yea."

"Of course you do," I muttered.

As I watched him he seemed to be a little nervous, and that could only mean one thing. I would know in the morning if I was right or not; something I wasn't looking forward too.

"Shall I walk you two out?" Jay asked.

"No," Adam said shaking his head.

"Yes," I nodded.

Adam and I said these at the same time. We looked at each other and glared; this was becoming ridiculous. I turned my attention back to Jay, putting a smile on my face. The look on his face told me he didn't know what to think or do.

"Yes," I told him. "That would be fine."

He smiled at me and we started walking towards the front door, with Adam behind us. I could feel glaring at me and knew he was brewing. If I could I would have smacked him, but didn't.

The three of us walked to the car and my brother didn't hesitate to get in. Again, I rolled my eyes and sighed, turning to Jay I smiled again.

"Sorry about that," I muttered.

"Don't worry about it," he told me. "I understand. That's what older brothers are supposed to do. It's good to know he cares about you."

"True, but it does get old sometimes."

"I don't doubt it."

"Yea."

The horn honked from behind me and I jumped ten feet into the air. Jay grabbed my arms and steadied me; I could feel the electric shock run through my body again, leaving a tingly feeling in its wake. My eyes met his and I was lost again. As he looked at me it looked like he was feeling the same way. I could feel a blush spread through my cheeks. The man in front of me smiled softly and slowly let go of my arms.

"You better go," he stated stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Or your brother is going to beat my ass for keeping you."

"I think you could take him," I said breathlessly.

"I'm sure you're right but I don't want to risk it."

"You're probably right."

I turned to walk to the car, but turned back around when I got to the door. He was still standing there, watching me, with his hands still in his pockets.

"See you Monday?" I questioned.

"See you Monday," he confirmed. "I'll text you."

"Okay."

Smiling as I opened my car door, I got inside and not even two seconds after I closed it my brother speed off. Looking in the passenger mirror Jay was still standing there, and I couldn't help but think I couldn't wait till Monday.


	5. Chapter 4

_**Dear readers,**_

 _ **Hello everyone. I just wanted to thank you for reading this fanfiction. I'm glad you readers are enjoying it. Considering I now have 30 followers I decided to add another chapter this week; hence chapter for you will be reading here soon.**_

 _ **I thought I would let you readers know I will be doing my best to update this fanfiction every Thursday night/Friday. Please don't forget to comment, and tell me what you would like to see. I'd like to know what your ideas. It makes my writing easier and faster.**_

 _ **Again, thank you for reading this story. I greatly appreciate it.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **M.M. Blue**_

 _ **Chapter 4.**_

 _ **A Sibling's Heated Argument**_

I was in a daze as I walked up the stairs to my apartment that I shared with my brother. This was all new to me and I had never felt like this before. I had never had a boyfriend and I'm twenty-five. With that said and to be honest I have never been kissed by anyone, besides a kiss on the cheek by my parents and brother. Yes, yes, I'm the twenty-five-year-old virgin that hasn't been kissed. I had only ever been on one date in my life, and I wouldn't have gone if the guy hadn't kept asking. That was a close to a year and a half ago though; the guy gave me the creeps, so I didn't give him another chance. He wasn't very happy about it either, but soon left me alone.

Working as I dispatcher I guess, I hear all the bad stuff that could happen: men beating or killing their significate other, a girl going out with the wrong guy, a girl not giving the wrong guy a second look, and the list goes on and one. So, I think all of this has made me hesitant in the guy department. Of course, I haven't always been a dispatcher; I did go to school once, but I was always worried about my studies and getting out of that damn school. I never really had time for guys.

So, yea, that was and is my life now. It just took me by surprise when Jay caught my eye, and there was no way I could stop it. Right now, I'm not sure I want to.

"Will you stop looking like that?" my brother growled, pulling me back into reality.

I shook my head, and looked up at him, as we walked into the apartment. The expression on his face told me he wasn't happy at all, and there was going to be a fight coming my way. I was getting tired of his attitude and rolling my eyes, but I did it anyway,

"You really have to stop this over protective, big brother thing," I told him kicking off my flip-flops. "I'm twenty-five years old. I think I can take care of myself."

"That's the trouble with the 'over protective, big brother thing'," Adam sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I can't stop because I _am_ your big brother. I'm not going to stop worrying about you just because your twenty-five. I don't want you to date someone from the department, or any department for that matter. With the job I have–"

"I know, I know. With the job you have I am in danger. Considering our dad is a cop a well, I'm in more danger. I've heard this time and time again."

Even though I've never really like any guy before, my brother made this speech to me every time he _thought_ I was interested in a one. I'm pretty sure this was another reason I never really thought about dating anyone. I do understand why he worries about me going out with someone who does the same thing he and dad does. It's a good reason for a suspect to kidnap a member of a police officer's family; the police department – a long with others – will do anything necessary to get them back. Considering I'm the sister _and_ daughter of not just one but _two_ cops, it would be a double whammy. The suspect would more than likely get what he wanted faster then just a regular person. Even if they got what they wanted the suspect would probably kill the victim to get back at the officers who done them wrong, or to just get back at cops in general.

So, like my brother had said – many, many times – I was in a lot of danger if someone found out I was his sister, and our fathers daughter. What a life I have, right?

"Then you know why I don't want you going out with someone from my team," my brother stated.

"Who said I was going out with him?" I asked. "All we're doing is going to the shooting range to shoot a few pieces of paper. And you never said I couldn't be friends with someone from your team. You don't have a problem with Al, Hank, Antonio, or Kevin, so what's the big deal with Jay."

"You really want to know?"

"Yes, I do. I want to know what your problem is."

"Okay. Al is my partner and I could trust him with anything, plus he's married. Hank is my boss and I knew he wouldn't trying anything. The two of them are too old for you anyway. Antonio is married with two kids and only sees you as a sister. And Kevin has known you for a long time and if he wanted something more he would have tried it by now."

"Some of those reasons aren't good enough, you know."

"I don't care."

"UGHHHH! You can be so frustrating!"

I turn around and head straight for my room. Times like these I didn't want to be anywhere near my brother. All he did was piss me off and I needed to be a lone, so I could calm myself. Sadly, my brother wasn't going to let me go.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, following me.

"To my room what does it look like," I told him.

"You look like a child to me."

"Don't you have somewhere else to be? Isn't Wendy expecting you?"

My brother grabbed my arm and spun me around. The look in is eye told me he wasn't going to back down. I wouldn't either if I had to, but all I wanted to do right now was take this make-up off my face, put on some PJ's on, and go to bed. We both glared at each other with so much anger I don't know how who's held more.

"Let. Me. Go. Now," I said as calmly as I could.

"Not until you say you're not going out with Halstead," he spat.

"Last time I checked you weren't my father, so don't start with 'I can tell you what to do' shit. Now let me go before I step on your foot so hard you'll feel it in your groin."

"You wouldn't do that."

"I've done it before, I'll do it again."

"I don't think you will."

"You really want to test that theory?"

It was silent again as we scowled at each other some more. I know we both had been drinking, me more than him, but I couldn't stop myself. I was glad I had someone looking out for me, but I was an adult and I should be treated as such.

I let my body take over as I lifted my foot in the air, letting the heel of it slam down on my brother's, and twisting it back a forth a few times. He let me go, grabbed his hurt limb, and started jumping up and down in a circle. I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms over my chest watching Adam make a fool of himself. He should have known I'd do what I said.

"What the hell do you do that for?" he exclaimed.

"I told you if you didn't let me go I was going to make it hurt," I shrugged. "You should know I'm a woman of my word."

"You didn't have to do it so hard. I swear it's going to bruise."

"It's your fault, not mine. Plus, you're supposed to be a big bad cop. Why are you jumping up and down like a sad baby?"

"Because it _hurts_!"

"Oh well."

My brother started hopping towards our couch and I decided to follow him. I sat down across from him in one of the recliners we had and watched him take off his shoes and socks to look at his foot. Sure, enough there was a bruise already starting to show. I bit my lip to hold back a smirk as we both looked at his foot. A long with the bruise it was starting to swell; I was starting to think I broke it. The only thing that doesn't prove my theory is I didn't feel anything break when my foot was on top of his.

"I think you did something really bad to it," Adam voiced.

"Again," I muttered, "it's your fault, not mine."

"You don't have to be so mean."

"And you don't have to be such an asshole."

"I'm just looking out for you Roe."

"I know you are Adam, and I'm very thankful I have you to do that. I just think you go overboard all the time and it gets annoying."

He was quiet, and I watched him massage his foot. I sighed, while running my both hands through my curly hair. This was getting ridiculous, there was no reason for any of the fighting. He was going to have to come to terms with the fact I wasn't his kid sister anymore. I could easily take care of myself; I mean I did have a gun after all, and I did know how to use it. That was the reason he got me the gun in the first place, right? So, I could take care of myself. As my brother winced in pain and groaned, I was starting to feel guilty. Why did out fights always have to lead to pain in one way or another?

"Look Bubba," I told him, "I'm sorry, but you had it coming. You have to understand that no matter how much you worry about me I'm still going to be able to take care of myself. You have to trust me."

"I do trust you sis," he said, "its other men I don't trust. With my job you see a lot of things that have to do with women going out with the wrong guy."

"Don't you think I know that? I work at dispatch. I get to hear the calls that come in from those women or people that saw what happened first hand. You don't hear the things I hear. I know how dangerous people can be. Why do you think I didn't put up a fight when you told me to carry my gun around? The gun you got me I might add."

Again, he went silent and I could see the wheel turning in his head. He was thinking about all I just said, and there weren't a lot of time he did that. So, instead of badgering about it, I let him work things over and pulled out my phone. There were no messages from anybody, not even Jay. I was hoping he would text me soon; it would be nice to talk to him some more.

I don't know how long we sat like, but soon his phone started going off. Looking up I watched him pull out his phone from his jacket packet. A small smile showed up on his face, before he answered it.

"Hey babe," he marveled.

As the woman on the other line spoke I rolled my eyes and threw myself against the recliner. I did not like Wendy at all and Adam knew that. She was a two-faced bitch who only wanted my brothers attention for herself; just like Nicole did. I wish he could find some who was nice enough to his family when he _wasn't_ around. If looks could kill I would already be dead ten time over from that woman's glare.

"I swear Wendy," my brother muttered. "I'm on my way. All I have to do is put some shoes and socks on and then I'm out the door."

Wendy started talking again, and I could hear it was almost a yell. I really didn't understand how my brother put up with that. If I yelled at him like that in anyway shape or form, I would get the silent treatment for at least a few days. Yet here she is yelling at him and he's willing to go running after her to make her happy. I guess love is blind… and stupid. I'm glad I'm not like that over some guy.

"Yes," Adam continued. "I'll see you soon. I love you… Bye."

When he hung up the phone he looked up to find me staring at him. He gave me one of his confused looks, and I rolled my eyes.

"What?" my brother groaned.

"Oh nothing," I shrugged. "I'm just going to go to bed. Wouldn't want you to keep your lovely girlfriend waiting, now would we?"

"What do you have against her anyway? What has she ever done to you?"

"Now that first question would get me slapped and the second one you wouldn't believe me, so I have nothing to say on this subject. Now get you shoe and sock on so you can leave. I'm going to go to bed.

"Roe come on. Don't be like this."

"Just leave it alone Adam."

I was not in the mood for any of this. I got up and started walking to my bedroom. I could feel my body was drained and the alcohol was almost completely out of my system. All I wanted to do right now was clean my face, put on some comfy PJ's and head to bed. I'd have to wait for Adam to leave to use the only bathroom in this place, but hopefully I wouldn't fall asleep before he left.

Hearing my brother call me from down the hall I didn't bother turning around to hear what he had to say. All it would do was get us into other fight and I was done with that right now. Plus, I told him to leave it alone. If we got a chance we'd talk about it some other time. Hopefully it would be when we hadn't been drinking and maybe we won't get into another big fight.

I closed my door once I got into my room and walked over to my King-sized bed. Jumping into it I looked up at the ceiling and waited for my brother to leave the apartment. Th place was quiet for about fifteen minutes; then I heard my brother's footsteps coming down the hall, stopping at my door. After standing there for a couple of minutes my brother knocked.

"Come on Sis," he said, his voice muffled. "We can work this out."

"Not tonight," I sighed.

"Why not?"

"Because we both been drinking and knowing us we'd only get into a bigger fight. We'd say things we didn't mean and do things we shouldn't do. I think it's best we just let this one got for a little while, and maybe come back to it later."

"But–"

"No buts. Just go to Wendy. I would like to be by myself for a little while. We need time a part."

"Wow. I didn't think I would ever hear that from my sister. I only hear that from the girls I've dated."

"There's a first time for everything. Now go."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay here by yourself?"

And here we go again with the protective big brother routine. When was he going to get it through his head that I was going to be fine and I could take care of myself? This was going to be a long road.

"Yes Bubba," I muttered. "I'm going to be fine."

"Okay," Adam agreed.

Hearing my brother turning around and walking to the front door, I decided to at least humor him about something.

"Bubba," I called.

"Yes Roe?" he asked.

"If something were to happen to me and I somehow get a hold of you, you wanna know what I will tell you?"

Adam laughed through the door. I could imagine a smile on his face, and I couldn't help but smile too.

"What would that be?" he questioned.

"I'm at the beach with my boyfriend," I told him.

"And why that sentence?"

"Because you know how much I hate the beach and because you know I don't have a boyfriend."

"Sounds good to me Sis."

"Good. Now get out of here. Wendy will kill you if you're not there when you told her you would be."

"Okay. I love you Roe."

"I love you too Adam. Have a good night."

"You too."

I listened as my brother walked away from my door. His footsteps made their way to the front door and once it closed I couldn't hear him anymore.

Once I knew he was gone I went to the bathroom and scrubbed the make-up off my face. Looking in the mirror I looked like myself which was nice. My hair was getting kind of greasy, so I put that up into a bun. Walking back to my room I took my wallet out of my pocket and put it on dresser along with my phone. I unhooked my gun from my belt, before putting it back into my lockbox. I wasn't going anywhere tomorrow so that was the best place for it. Now it was time to get into some JP's; I stripped and found a pair of boxer-shorts and an over sized t-shirt and called it good.

Getting into bed, I cuddled up under my covers and snuggled with my body pillow. I let out a sigh of contentment before closing my eyes. As I started to drift off to sleep, I couldn't help but think of someone with beautiful blue eyes. That was the best nights sleep I've had in a long time.


	6. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5.**_

 _ **Followed**_

 __On Sunday Jay got a hold of me and said we were still on for the shooting range for the next day. With a skip in my step, I took a shower; doing everything I needed to do in there. After that, for the rest of the day, I cleaned the entire apartment. I just wanted the day to go by fast, so Monday would arrive, which was weird because I never thought I would ever be excited for that day of the week… ever. Maybe it was because I was off for the day. Or maybe it was because I was going to be spending time with Jay. Who knows but whatever it was I was excited for Monday.

I cleaned the entire house – besides my brother room, that was his mess, he was the one who was going to clean it up – only taking a break to eat and use the bathroom. Adam wasn't there so it was easier to get things done. He was always wanting to me to do other stuff and hung out with him because he said he didn't spent enough time with me. It was nice once in a while, but when things needed to be done it was pretty annoying. I always told him he could help me, but then he started whining and that was the end of those conversations.

Jay didn't get a hold of me Sunday, and I was starting to worry, but knew if he still wanted to hang out he would eventually text me. It was probably a good idea I didn't get his number or who knows what would happen. I would have been blowing up his phone by now, no doubt, and he wouldn't want to see me again. Which I wouldn't blame him, but still. He was probably busy, and there was nothing to worry about.

After my sixth time of thinking about why hadn't gotten a hold of me, I put my earbuds in my ear and started listening to music. The most I had on my iPod was country, so that's mostly what played through my earbuds.

Once I was done cleaning I thought it would be a good idea to go to the grocery store. I knew if I didn't Adam wouldn't have enough food to eat for the rest of the week; that is if he ever came home from Wendy's. While in the store, I could feel someone watching me. I was on guard the whole time I was there; looking down the aisle before actually going down them, and glancing behind me every time, I heard someone talking. There was no one there.

This feeling was starting to scare me. It was one thing feeling it when you were walking to your car _once_ but when you felt it then and when you were in the grocery store, doing an everyday thing, then it was time to tell someone. Whenever I saw Adam again I was going to have to tell him about how every time I stepped out of the apartment I was feeling like I was being watched. I knew he probably wouldn't believe me, but once he saw how freaked out I was, then maybe he would change his mind or at least try to understand.

As I walked out the store and two my truck, I pulled out my gun and set it on my purse that was sitting in the child seat of the cart. I put on my best poker face, making my way through the other cars. I could still feel someone staring at me, but I did my best to try to ignore it. Putting my groceries in the truck took longer than normal because I had my gun in one hand, holding to one side, trying to hide it from view. I didn't want whoever was following me to know I had a weapon to defend myself. When I was done putting the groceries in the back, I put the cart away, and hurried back to my truck. Hopping in I locked my doors and turned on the vehicle.

The whole way home I watched behind me to make sure no one was following. From what I could see an all-black Range Rover was taking every turn I was and changing the same lanes I was. This was really starting to freak me out. Of course, I didn't go home; I didn't want to lead this person to where I lived – if he or she was really following me.

About a half hour of following me and trying to get rid of the driver of the Range Rover I really need help. I couldn't handle this anymore. There were a few people I could call and at the top of the list was my brother. I just hoped he'd pick up.

I pressed a button on my steering wheel and a voice came over the speakers. Sighing in relief I was thankful I bought the truck with the hands-free phone thing. Now I just had to figure out how to use it.

"Please say a command," Siri said.

"Call Adam," I told her.

The system took a few seconds, and all the time I my mind was telling it to go faster. Then a ping sounded over the speakers.

"Calling Adam on cell," Siri stated.

And then the phone started to ring. My damn brother didn't pick up the first time I called him, or the second… or the third… By the fourth I was about to say screw it and try Voight. He probably would be better help than Adam again way. Half way through the fourth try my brother finally picked up the phone.

"Why did you called me Roe?" Adam asked. "I'm kind of busy right now."

I could hear giggling on the phone and I was about to puck. If I wasn't freaking out right now I would have hung up the phone, but I was too scared to care if my brother was busy with his girlfriend. At the moment my life was more important than hers and I hoped my brother saw it that way too.

"Adam, this is serious," I told him, making my voice sound as scared as I could to let him know this wasn't a game.

"What's wrong?" he asked, worry was laced in his tone.

"I'm not sure. All I know is there has been this all-black Range Rover following me for almost an hour. I went to the grocery store to get food for the week and I felt someone following me there too. This has been happening for a while now and I thought it was my imagination, but now I'm not so sure."

"Calm down Monroe. Are you sure this person is following you?"

"No, I thought it would be a good idea to call you, so I could be a big pain in your ass… Of course, I think this person is following me. The car makes the same turns I do and changes the same lanes when I do. Trust me this person is following me."

Putting as much sarcasm in to my first sentence, I almost growled the rest. Adam should know I wouldn't have called him unless I thought I was in danger. Right now, was one of those times.

"Okay," my brother said. "Give me a second to think about what to do."

"We don't have time to think Adam. What do you want me to do?"

"Let me think."

I gave Adam a few more seconds and before I was about to tell him the time to think should be over he finally started talking.

"Alright here we go. Listen Monroe. This is what I want you to do. I need you to come over to Wendy's and park in the front. I'll be waiting for you."

"I'm five minutes away."

"See you soon. Be careful Sis."

"I'm trying."

Without hearing if he had to say anything else I hung up the phone. I sped up a little to see what the person behind me would do. Sure, enough the car started to speed up as well. My heart started to beat faster and I did my best to stay calm.

Less than five minutes and I pulled up to Wendy's apartment. I could see Adam standing at the front doors with his gun drawn, as I pulled over, and parked my truck. I took a look in my rearview mirror, when I turned off the vehicle. The car behind me had slowed down but it didn't look like it was going to stop. Glancing back toward my brother he was starting to walk out of the building. From the corner of my eye I could see the all black Range Rover pass by my vehicle – even the windows were heavily tinted, I couldn't even see who was driving the car.

I watched the car drive up the road a few feet and then turn a right on the next street. A few deep breathes later, I was mostly calm until my brother knocked on my window. I jumped ten feet in the air and turned in his direction. He didn't look happy. Sighing, I rolled down my window.

"Did you see it?" I asked.

"No I didn't see that," he told me angrily. "What I did see was someone in a black Range Rover driving right behind you and turning the corner. That vehicle wasn't following you."

Staring at my brother's anger face, it took a while for me to understand that he didn't believe me. I wouldn't have even considered it if I didn't know him like I did.

"You've got to be kidding me," I finally cried out furiously.

His accusation was enough to piss me off. He was still glaring at me so I gave as much force into mine. There was no way in hell he couldn't trust me with something like this. I had never lied to him before, why would I start now. He always told me if I felt like I was in danger to come and tell him as soon as possible. So here I was right now, telling him I felt threatened, yet he didn't believe me. What kind of bullshit was this?

"That person in that vehicle," I continued, pointing in the direction of the black Rover, "was following me as I drove. Whoever was in that Range Rover, I'm sure was watching me at the store today. I could feel it."

"Stop this now Monroe," Adam growled.

"No! I will not stop this. I'm sitting here in front of you scared out of my mind about someone following me and you don't even believe me."

"That's because no one was following you."

"So, you're calling me a liar?"

"I think you're seeing things."

"That's bullshit and you know it."

I watched as my brother looked to the doors of Wendy's apartment. Shadowing his eyes, I could see, sure enough, the bitch was standing right there. If I didn't know any better I would have said that she had said something to Adam before I got here. The anger was getting hotter in my veins. Right then and there I knew exactly what was going on.

Looking back at my brother, I hardened my glare. She was the cause for this fight and many more before that. From the looks of it I knew where I stood. When Adam looked back at me I squared my shoulders.

"Okay then," I muttered. "I see how it is."

His face softened a little and he rolled his eyes. This just got me madder.

"Come one Roe," he groaned. "Don't be like this."

"No, no. I totally get it. I know exactly where I stand in this picture now. I will be sure to not let this happen again. Next time I'll call someone else."

"That's not what I'm saying Ro–"

"Whatever you say Adam. I'll be leaving now."

Glancing down, I turned my truck back on and put it into drive. I looked back to my brother and stared stoned face at him.

"I have one last thing to say," I told him. "Have I _ever_ lied to you before? Have I ever given you a doubt about anything I have said?"

"No," he answered, "but–"

"Bye Bubba. See you whenever."

I made sure I didn't hit him as a started pulling away from the curb, which was easy because there was no one in front of me. Taking a sidelong glance at the door I saw Wendy was still standing there, but now I could see she had a smile on her face. Whatever my brother saw in her I would never know. She better not cause any more trouble, that has to do with me, or she would live to regret it. It didn't matter what my brother said or not.

~J&M~

It wasn't very late after I got home, but I wasn't in the mood for anything. I didn't want to clean anymore and I didn't feel like eating. All I did was put my groceries away, after locking the door, and went to my room to get into some PJ's, before getting into bet. Curling up with my body pillow was when I started to cry. My brother was never like this until he started dating Wendy. Nicole wasn't bad; she was quiet and didn't socialize much with the family, but she wasn't an evil conniving bitch, which was nice. The woman he's dating now is more like my mother and older sister. Which is good for them I guess, they'll get along just fine.

If Adam does marry Wendy I wasn't going to have anything to do with him. I'll move out of the apartment, and find my own. Wendy can have him, because I'm not going to put up with someone like her, when I already have two people who are exactly the same. Maybe it is true: when I man finds someone, that person is like his mother, and when a woman find someone that person is like her father.

I sighed at shoot my head, trying to find something better to think about. Today started out good, but it ended badly. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I stopped crying then… That's right. I was going to the shooting range with Jay tomorrow. Tomorrow had to be better than to day.

With those thoughts in my head, I slowly started drifting off to sleep. Jay's blue eyes filled my dreams that night and I couldn't ask for anything better.


	7. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6.**_

 _ **Monday Plans**_

The next morning I was up bright an early, even before my alarm went off; it was supposed to go off at eight. My first thought was today was the day I was going to the shooting range with Jay. The second things I thought about was of the fight I had with my brother the day before, and the person who was following me. I then shook my head and decided it was time to focus of the good. Today was going to be a good day. I told myself last night and that's what was going to happen.

I jumped out of bed and started getting ready for the day. After I grabbed a short-sleeve hoodie and some jeans to wear, I went to the bathroom and washed my face. For my hair, I put it into a ponytail so it would be out of my face, and getting dressed afterwards. I put my gun in its hostler, and put it on my belt. When that was all done, I went to the kitchen and made myself some pancakes and bacon. I wasn't normal a breakfast person but today I was kind of hungry.

Around nine I was starting to freak out a little. Jay was due here any minute and I didn't know how this was going to work out. Yes, I knew we could end up being friends or we could end up not talking ever again. There was part of me that didn't think it was a bad idea to never talk once this was over, but there was also that small part in my heart that wanted to be friends. I guess there was only one way to find out.

I stood around my living room window – which faced the street – waiting for Jay to show up. Around nine thirty a red Ford Mustang with a black top pulled up to the front of the apartment. The vehicle was very impressive; I didn't know much about cars but I knew it was an older model. I'd have to ask Jay a little bit about it later. Right now, he was getting out of his car, and making his way up to the door. Just then my heart started to race.

Deciding to meet him half way, I grabbed a light jacket and my keys and made sure my wallet was in my back pocket, before making my way out the door. Locking it behind me, I turned around and almost ran into him. I jumped backwards and almost fell down, but the man was always fast and grabbed me by the arms to steady me.

"Whoa," Jay chuckled. "Steady there."

He let me go once he saw I was stable enough to stand on my own. I could feel my heart still race faster than ever. Just him touching me I could feel the heat rise up to my cheeks. I hope he doesn't notice.

"I'm so sorry," I exclaimed. "I swear I'm usually not this clumsy."

"I believe you," he said.

By the look on his face I could tell he didn't, but I let it slide. He smiled at me, and I smiled back, as he held out his hand. I hesitated only for a second, before slowly taking it. I could tell, Jay's hands were rough with calluses, but also warm and gently, as he intertwined our fingers. The electric shock was back, oddly enough I was used to it. The warm feeling that spread through my body was a different story.

It was surprising to me that someone could feel so coarse but be so tender at the same time. I didn't care through. Jay seemed like a sweet guy and I was going to see if what I thought about him was true. If I didn't I would go crazy wondering, but if it ended badly… That was just something I wasn't going to think about right now.

Jay started to lead me toward his car, and I decided to stop over-thinking all this. There was nothing to over-think about it. All it was, was two friends going to the shooting range to shoot some guns. Simple… right? Well it should have been simple but sadly it wasn't. This man worked with my brother and he didn't want me to have anything to do with Jay. My life just couldn't be easy, could it?

When we got to the vehicle, he took me to my side and opened the door for me. No one has done that for me on purpose before, not even my brother. So, I was kind of shocked and I just stood there.

"Is everything alright?" Jay asked.

"Yes," I said. "It's just… no one has ever opened a door for me, let alone a car door."

"Come on. Adam at least had to have opened a door for you, one time or another."

"Not on purpose."

"Well I'm glad I could be the first."

I tried to hide a smile has I got in but I failed. Once I was in the car, I watched Jay walk to his side. When he was in and the door was closed, he turned on the car. He pulled off the curb and headed to his districts shooting range about seventeen minutes away from my place. Which meant we had time to talk a little. I didn't want it to be awkward.

"So, nice car you got here," I told him. "Ford Mustang, right?"

"Thank you," he smiled, "and yes. It's a 1967. My brother helped me rebuild it."

"Was that your brother I saw at Molly's the other day?"

"Yes. His name is William, but of course, we call him Will."

"Is he older or young?"

"Younger by two years."

"Oh, I bet that was fun going up two years apart."

And that's how it went for the short trip to the district. He told me a lot of story's about when he and Will were kids. How his dad walked out on him and how his mom raised the two boys all by herself. I wished my father would have left somewhere along the line, but that would mine my mother would be the one raising me, Kate, and Adam. I don't know which one I would have wanted. An abusive cop father, or a mother who wanted everything to be perfect.

Jay's mom really did sound like a great woman, but sadly she died a few years ago. He really did seem sad even now about her death, and everything got quiet after that conversation. It wasn't an awkward silence thankfully.

~J&M~

Once we made it to the district Jay went to the truck of the car and grabbed a big duffle bag. When I asked him what was in the bag he told me I would find out. I just smiled and rolled my eyes, letting it go. We walked into the build, meeting Sargent Platt at the front desk. I wonder if that woman ever had a day off. That would explain her personality and attitude. She did great us as we walked back to the range, which was something.

Jay but the duffle bag down on a table at the front of the range. He opened it up and started pulling out a few guns. There was Glock 17 Pistol, Beretta 92FS, Smith & Wesson Model 36, and a M4A1 Rifle. Yes, I knew my guns, after living with my brother and dad. My eyes were wide and my jaw hung open when he looked at me. I couldn't believe Jay had all of these guns. He was smiling, when I was finally able to look away from the guns he had spread out, and it brought out a dimple on his left cheek; I could see it through the scruff he had going on.

"Is this how you impress all the girls?" I asked him, smiling back. "Taking them to the shooting range and show them all your guns before shooting them?"

"Na," he laughed. "To be honest, I've never brought a girl out to shoot before. You're the first"

"I find that hard to believe."

"Well believe what you want to because it's true."

I believed him oddly enough, and I feel the blush creep up my cheek. That tended to happen a lot when I was around Jay I noticed. I didn't feel bad about it either. The man before me looked down at all the guns he had on the table – probably thinking about which on to use – with a cute quizzical expression on his face. He then glanced over at me, and down at my hip.

"Do you want to start with your Beretta?" he questioned.

"I don't see why not," I shrugged.

We both walked up to the booth and I took out my gun. Keeping my finger off the trigger, I got into position – making sure it was the wrong position – and Jay got behind me.

"Okay first of all," he muttered. "Your stance is sloppy… I think you would be better in the Weaver stance. Put your left foot in front Here."

Jay gently grabbed my hips and I sucked in a sharp breath. If he heard it he chose to ignore it as he turned them so I moved my left foot to the front.

"Keep your torso facing your target," he whispered in my ear.

I could feel a shiver go up and down my spine as his breathe hit my neck. My body was running on the warm side, but not in an angry way this time. I didn't know what to think of this.

The hands moving to my arms brought me out of my train of thought. Jay was slowly moving his hand up my arms and to my hands.

"Now keep your arms straight," he told me. "Your hands are in the correct position. Put your finger on the trigger. When you get ready to shoot, you have to remember don't jerk the trigger, slowly pull it. If you jerk it you're going to go off target."

"Okay," I said.

"When you're ready go ahead and pull the trigger."

I felt him step back from me and I let out the breath I was holding. Looking at the target in front of me, I concentrated on the center of the silhouette of a person. I breathe in and out a few more times before finally jerking the trigger a little. The bullet hit the white part of the paper instead of the black silhouette. Of course, I didn't want to Jay thinking I knew what I was doing the first time. He told me he was going to teach me, so I had to make him think he was. I at least had to give him a few minutes.

"That's okay," Jay said, coming back up behind me. "You jerked the trigger a little bit."

He put his hand around over mine and steadied me. A smile was slowly creeping across my face. Hopefully he was paying too much attention to helping me rather than my face.

"Okay," he muttered. "Now pull the trigger."

Doing as I was told, I did a little better making sure I didn't jerk the trigger. Then time the bullet was in the black but ne where in the center.

"That's better," he stated. "Now try it without my help."

Jay stepped back, and I decided it was talk to let the cat out of the bag. I took another deep breath and pulled the trigger. I shoot the target a few more times. When I put the gun down, Jay came up beside me and pressed a button so the target moved towards us. As it came closer I could tell the last three bullets were smack-dab in the middle and they were so close together they were touching.

I was pretty proud of myself and I had a smile on my face as I looked back at Jay. He was smirking and I could tell I was busted.

"So, tell me again," he grinned, "how you don't know how to use a gun."

"I'm so sorry," I told him. "You just asked me if I needed help and I didn't know what to say, so I said yes."

"No don't worry about. I never had a girl act like they didn't know how to shoot a gun just to spend more time with me."

"I didn't say yes just to spend time with you."

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

"Then what did you do it for then?"

"I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

Jay pierced his lips together and I could tell he was trying so hard not to laugh. He failed miserably. His laugh was so contagious I couldn't stop myself from doing the same thing. I don't know how long we sat there and laughed with each other, but we soon stopped. Once I got my breath back, I looked over at the table of guns behind us. When I looked back at him he was staring and me.

"You know," I said, "I'm not lying this time, but I have never shot a M4A1 Rifle."

"Are you serious this time?" he asked.

"I promise you, I have never shot one of those."

"Okay then. Let's get started."

~J&M~

After about two hours of shooting the different kinds of gun – some I knew some I did not – I helped him back them up and we headed out to his car. Once again, he opened up my door, and I didn't hesitate to get in. When we started on the streets he started laughing at me for the lie I told him. We laughed about this for a few minutes, and I had to admit this was pretty fun.

"So, would you like to grab some lunch?" he asked.

"Yea," I nodded. "That would be nice."

"That's good, because I know a good place to go. Will and I like to go there a lot."

"Oh really? And what place is this?"

"You'll just have to wait and see."

This was sounding like a surprise and I didn't like surprises, I let it slide. I knew all he was going to was I'd just have to wait and see. What was the point of asking if there wasn't going to be an answer. We ended up pulling up to a place called Smoque BBQ. I'd never been here before let alone heard of it, but I guess if Jay thought it was good I might as well trust him.

"I hope you like Barba-Q," he stated.

"I like just about anything," I informed him.

"Great."

He came to my side of the car and opened my door. Once I was out he grabbed my hand and lead me to the outside sitting area. The man even pulled out my chair for me. I didn't hesitate to sit down, but I was still a little shocked. When he was sure I comfortable he went, and sat down across from me.

"You know you don't have to stuff like that," I voiced him.

"Stuff like what?" he asked.

"Opening the car door – any door for that matter – and pull out my chair. I'm a big girl. I can do things for myself."

Jay was starting to smile again, and I didn't understand what I said to amuse him. I looked into his eyes and they were shinning with playfulness. That should have scared me, but it didn't.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"Nothing," Jay said shaking his head. "It's just you're so defensive."

"We had this conversation before and we came to the conclusion–"

"That you were defensive."

"Whatever you say buddy."

"Anyway… It's just my mother always taught Will and I to be gentlemen, no matter how defensive the woman is."

"Oh."

"Yea. So, no matter how much you hate it when I open any kind of doors for you, or pull out your chair, I'm going to do it anyway, before my momma–"

"Raised you right?"

"Exactly

We both laughed but soon stopped when our waitress stopped by our table. It was clear they knew each other. She was smiling and her eyes were shinning with excitement. I didn't know what to think about it, but knew it wasn't my place to even be thinking about it. Jay and I were just friends.

"Hey Jay," she greeted, with her eyes staying on him. "How you been? Haven't seen you and Will for a while."

"Hey Clair," Jay smiled. "Just been busy at work. So, has Will. I don't think he has had a day off for a few weeks."

"Well that don't sound like fun."

"No it does not."

"So, the usual for you?"

"Yes. But I think you need to give us a minute. Gracey hasn't been here before I don't think."

The waitress finally glanced in my direction. I was sure I looked pretty shocked from him calling me Gracey, but she, herself, looked kind of stunned for some reason. Had Jay ever brought a girl here before? Oddly enough he didn't seem to pay much attention to the waitress. I noticed, out of the corner of my eyes, he was looking me the whole time – only looking at her long enough to be polite.

"Oh…" the Clair mumbled. "Can I at least get you something to drink?"

"Of course," Jay nodded. "I'll have my regular."

"And I guess I'll have a Pepsi," I shrugged

"One Mountain Dew," the waitress confirmed, "and one Pepsi coming right up."

"Thank you," Jay and I said together.

I turned around to watch the waitress leave and when I turned my attention back to Jay, he was staring at me. Feeling the blush creep up my face for the hundredth time today, tried to look away from his gaze, but that didn't work. His eyes held all my attention and it was hard to look away from them.

"So?" I muttered, trying to get a conversation going.

"So?" he repeated.

"Tell me more about yourself."

"What would you like to know?"

"Oh, I don't know. How old are you? Where were you born? Favorite color? Do you have any kids? All that stuff."

Once again, Jay started to laugh. I didn't mean to make him laugh, but it was nice to hear it. He had one of those laughs that started in his chest and was more of a chuckle. It was a nice sound to hear. I would love to hear more of it.

"Okay, well…" he finally muttered, after he stopped laughing. "Your first question I'm twenty-eight. I was born here in Chicago. Favorite color would have to be red or blue. And no I don't have any kinds."

"Ah," I mumbled. "I see."

"But I was married once."

"Oh you were?"

"Yea."

I didn't know what to say after that. Him telling me he had been married before kind of threw me off. I also, didn't know how it made me feel. I was glad he was up front with me about it; it meant a lot. Other guys probably wouldn't have been so honest.

He was also very patient. Like right now; he was quiet and he let me think about what was said. As he gave me this time, Clair came back with our drinks and a menu for me. I waited until she left before I started talking again.

"What's her name?" I finally asked. "Where did you meet her?"

"Her name is Abby," Jay admitted, without hesitation. "I met her while I was Army Rangers. We were in it together."

"You were in the Army?

"Yea. I went in right after high school. Did a few tours, and got out four years after joining. Soon after getting out of that went to the police academy."

"I'm sorry your marriage didn't work out."

"It's fine. I think we did it because we were young and thought that's what we were supposed to do."

"Do you know where she is?"

"No."

"Ah."

"Yes. Now look at the menu. I don't think Clair will be happy if she comes back and you haven't finished anything. I do recommend the Barba-Q Chicken. It's Will's favorite."

I opened my menu and looked over my options. After a few minutes of glancing over the cardboard in front of me I finally decided to take Jay's advice and try the Barba-Q Chicken. When Clair came back she took our order and we sat and talked about anything and everything's.

"So did it surprise you that I was in the arm?" he asked, right before our food got here.

"To be honest?" I smirked. "No it did not."

"Why wasn't it?"

"It's obvious. Your haircut, the way you carry yourself, oh we can't forget all the guns you own, and many more things."

"Your very observant. Why is that?"

"Well with the home life I had growing up you had to be. Plus, my brother and father are cops so they taught me to be aware of my surrounding."

"What kind of home did you have?"

"Oh, come on, you don't want to hear my sob story."

"That's where you're wrong."

Looking him up and down I realized he was serious. He really did want to know and he looked legitimately concerned or interested. I surprised myself by wanting to actually tell him.

"Alright fine," I told him. "Well you know how hard the Police job is."

"Yea," he agreed.

"Of course, you do. You also know how anger some things make you?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I'm sure you go to a gym to get that anger out, that's obvious. Well my dad didn't do that. He took that out on my siblings and me. If you didn't notice the signs that he was getting angry, you either ended up getting yelled at for no reason or hit so hard you saw stars."

"I see."

I could tell by the expression on his face he was trying not to show how mad he was. His jaw was pulsing under his skin and I knew I had to finish the story now or I don't know what would happen.

"I was the one who got most of it," I admitted to him, "because I couldn't get out of the way fast enough. When my brother got older and thought he could take our old man he took most of the beatings."

"Sorry to hear that," Jay mumbled. "That explains a lot."

"I'm sure it does… Uhhh… Let's change the subject."

"I couldn't agree more."

"Thank you."

Just then Clair came back with our food. Jay made sure to change the subject to something light and funny. He made me laugh but I made him laugh more because of my defensiveness. If me being defensive made him chuckle I was more than willing to do it.

~J&M~

We stayed at the restaurant for about two and half hours. It was fun I had to admit. All the talking and laughing was refreshing. I don't think I felt this good in a very long time, which was great. I wish life was like this all the time.

The two of us left the Smoque BBQ hand in hand and he opened my door once we got to the car. I didn't say anything as I got in. The drive to my place was filled with more light conversation and I really didn't want this time with Jay to end. When we pulled up to my apartment he put the car in park and turned in his seat to look me.

"I had a fun time," Jay stated.

"I did too," I agreed. "I really appreciate it."

"And the next you want to hang out just say so. Don't lie about not knowing how to do something."

"Oh, shut up."

We both laughed for a few minutes before becoming silence again.

"Well I better go," I said. "I have to get to sleep so I can start my twenty-four-hour shift tomorrow."

"Ouch," he grimaced. "I don't envy you."

"No one does."

"Well I hope we can hang out more. I really did have a good time."

"I did too."

"Have a good night Gracey."

"Okay. I have one more thing to talk about."

"And… what's that?"

By now he was trying so hard to keep his smile from getting bigger. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

"Why the hell are you calling me Gracey?" I snapped.

"You really want to know," he smirked.

"Yes. I really want to know."

"Okay. The reason I'm calling you Gracey because everyone calls you Mo, and Adam calls you Roe. I didn't want to call you by a nickname everyone else calls you. What better name to call you by than Gracey?"

"Because that's not my name."

"It's your middle name."

"My middle name is Grace."

"Gracey is pretty much the same thing."

"Whatever. I'm gonna go now. No need to get out and get my door. I'm more than capable of doing that myself."

I turned around, opened door and got out the car.

"See you later Gracey," Jay chuckled.

At the sound of my "new nickname" I slammed the door and started to stomp my way to the apartment. When I got to the door I turned around just in time to see Jay drive away in his stupid Ford Mustang.

Walking into the house, I locked the door behind me, and I walked to my room. It was only three in the afternoon but I wanted to be comfortable, so I put some PJ's on considering I was home. I was just putting a shirt over head when a knock at the door. A smile came to my lips. It was either my brother or Jay, but Adam had a key so he'd just come in. That only left one person.

I made my way to the door and not even bothering to look through the peep-hole, unlocking it. Pulling the door open, I made sure the smile was still on my face.

"Did you forget something?" I asked.

When I saw who it was, my blood ran cold and my stomach dropped. The person at the door was the last person I ever thought I would see again. I hadn't seen him almost a year and a half. From the time, I spent with him I didn't want to see him every again; and yet here he was standing at my door, and he didn't look happy.

"Well, hello there Monroe," the man said.

He smiled and I knew I wasn't going to like whatever happens next.


	8. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7.**_

 _ **Him**_

The look on his face was nothing but pure evil. By the way he was smiling I could tell I was in a world of hurt, and I didn't understand how that was possible. I only went out with this guy once because he kept insisting we go out. From the beginning, I could tell he was a creep. Turns out I was right. Everything about him was a red flag.

Clay Lowell was someone I met on the streets. He was a twenty-eight-year-old doctor with brown eyes, and light brown hair, while he stood around six-feet-tall. The man told me he had his own medical office somewhere in town where he worked on people who couldn't get the medical attention they needed. Nice guy, right? You would think.

He had told me a little bit about himself, every time we saw each other. Which was the first red flag because after I first met him I started seeing him a lot. He also kept asking me to go on dates with him. Every time he would ask I told him no, I wasn't interested. This happened for about a month or two. Finally, I gave in; what could go wrong?

I had told him I would meet him at the restaurant – of his choice. When I walked out my front door to go there, he was here at my front door. The only thing I could ask myself was: how did he even know where I lived? That wasn't the only creepy thing that happened. When we got to the restaurant, he ordered our drinks – without asking me what I wanted – of course it was alcohol. Then he proceeded to order my food for me, not caring if that's what I wanted or not. His excuse was, he had been here before and knew what I would like.

More red flags showed up as the night went on, he started talking about the future, with me in it. I couldn't understand how he was so into me so quick. This was our first – and only – date, how could someone be so interested in such a short period. After the date, he wanted to drive me home and I told him my brother was coming to get me – I had texted him in the middle of our diner letting him know what was going on. Clay didn't seem happy about the idea but let it happen because my brother had just pulled up. That was the last time I saw him and I never talked to him again. I thought I'd never see him after that moment.

Him standing here in front of me proved how wrong I was about everything and I didn't know what to think. I was too stunned to process what was going on right now.

Before I could say anything, he pushed his way into my house. Considering he had a few pounds and inches on me, I wasn't no match for him. Clay grabbed my arm roughly as he pulled me away from the door and closed it. He took me over to the couch and pushed me down. Flash backs of my childhood raced across my mind. My father mad and storming around the house. Mom crying in the corner, trying to get away from his blows. Adam, Kate, and I forced to sit on the couch and wait for his tantrum to be over. If we even moved or said a word we would get hit.

I'm sure this is the same situation but different person. I don't know who was scarier my father walking the house or Clay who just stood there looking at me with his arms crossed over his chest. At least I knew what was coming when it came to my old man. When it came to the man standing in front of me – someone I barely knew – I had no idea what he was planning. I was in a disadvantage and I hated being in these types of situations.

"What are you doing here?" I finally asked.

"Oh, I was in the neighborhood," he shrugged, "and I thought I'd stop by. The real question is, why were you out with another man?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I watched as his jaw started to work under his skin and new I had said the wrong thing. His hand clinched into fists and my whole body tensed up. There were so many things to watch for in body movements I didn't know what to look for. It didn't help that I barely knew the guy and didn't know how he liked to handle things.

My father, for example, liked to use his left fist more than anything. Somethings he'd mix it up a bit by kicking or pulling hair. Other time he used words he knew would hurt. You could see whatever it was he was about to throw at you by the way his body moved. Clay was something new to me and I didn't know what he liked to use. Considering he was a muscular man, I would guess he like to use physical violence over words.

"Don't play dumb with me Pretty Girl," he muttered angrily. "I know you were with some other guy."

What in the world was this guy talking about? The red flags keep flying up and I knew this wasn't a good thing. I really didn't know how I was going to get out of this. If I said the wrong things, I was probably going to get hit. But on the other hand, if I said the right things he was going to think there was something going on between us – I'm pretty sure he already thought that. Normal people didn't just show up at person's house or after one date, demanding why they were out with someone new. With that said, way I was screwed either way.

I don't know how long we looked at each other, but I could tell he was getting impatient with my silence. I had to think of the right words to say, but also say them without leading him to believe that there was anything between us. This was going to be harder than I thought.

"He's just a friend," I finally stated. "He was just showing me how to work a firearm. There's no harm in that."

"You went to lunch with him," Clay said.

"Just because he offered to buy me lunch doesn't mean anything. I'm not dating him Clay. I'm not dating anybody."

It happened so fast, I didn't even see him raise his hand, but he back handed me across my face. My head snapped to the side and my hair fell into my eyes. I was in shock as I slowly put my hand to my right cheek, still not understand what had just happened. No one has hit me since I left my parents' house at the age of eighteen. To be honest, I almost forgot what it felt like.

Still in a daze I felt Clay grab my arms and pushed me back into the couch. I sucked in a breath as I gazed up into the cold eyes of the man leering over me. The expression was pure evil and I didn't know what to think about what was going on. I could feel Clay's fingers digging into my flesh. There were defiantly going to be bruises later.

"You're not to hang out with any other man besides your brother," he told me. "If I catch you doing anything you're not supposed to I will kill the person you're with. Do you understand?"

There was nothing I could say, so I just nod. I didn't understand what this man was going on about. We went on _one_ date and that was a long time ago. Why was he now starting to be possessive? It wasn't like we were in a relationship anyway.

Clay let go of my arms and started pacing the floor. He was running his hands through his hair and muttering to himself; this seemed to calm him down a little bit. All I could do was stare; not knowing what this guy's problem was. Of course, he had to have a mental problem; not everyone was like this. I didn't even understand what it was about me he was so obsessed with. I really wasn't anything special.

Then, out of nowhere, my brain started to work… It was putting two and two together for the first time since Clay showed up. If he knew I was with Jay today… then he must have been following me. That meant if he was following me today, then he had to be shadowing me other times too. This man had to be why I always felt like someone was watching; because someone _was_ watching me. Clay was the same person who was tailing me the other day. He was the man in the black Range Rover.

"It was you," I blurted out, causing him to stop and look at me. "You were the one following me the other day. You've been following me everywhere."

"For being really smart girl," Clay smirked, "you're really slow. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out sooner."

"We went on one date. I didn't think I was going to see you again."

"You might not have seen me, but I was seeing you… every time I closed my eyes. I couldn't get you out of my head… from the moment I met you. That's why I kept asking you on a date. I needed to get to know you better. Then you finally said yes… and I was over the moon. You looked amazing when I took you out on our date. When I realized, I was your first date, I knew we were meant to be. I was sure we'd end up together, but when you didn't call me when you said you would I had to know why. Now I know… you replaced me with someone else."

I just kept staring; I didn't know how to respond, or what to say. He was getting angry again, I could see it in his eyes. My mind was telling me to run, but I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere. This man was not my father… my father was predictable; this man wasn't. He could do anything, at any time without me seeing it coming. I had to play this safe.

"I didn't know you felt that way," I murmured.

"It had to be obvious!" he shouted. "I was talking about a future with you. Not many men do that. Isn't that what women want? For a man to talk about the future with both of them in it so they know their serious."

"Yes, but not on the first date."

He didn't seem to hear to me, because he started pacing again. He was muttering under his breath. I couldn't understand what he was saying though considering his words seemed to be mixed together. This man was scarier than my father, and I didn't even think that was possible. It was probably the predictability of the whole thing.

This went on for a while; he paced, I stared. Soon though, he stopped pacing, fixed his hair, and his clothes. Standing up straight he let out a harsh breath, before looking at me.

"I only came here to tell you to stay away from other men," he said calmly. "Of course, your brother is the exception. If you're with him and other men are around that's fine. But you aren't a loud to be a lone with any of them. Do you understand?"

Not wanting to get hit again, I nodded. I had never been in this situation before – I always went out of my way to try to stay out of something like this – so I didn't know what to do. This was all very strange to me.

"Good," Clay nodded. "Also, I will be out of town for a few weeks. I have personally matters to attended too. I want you to behave. If I find out you were with anyone besides your brother, or without him, I will find out who it was and I will kill them."

My eyes widen. I knew he had said that before, but considering he said it again I knew he wasn't lying. The first person who came to mind was Jay. He was in danger if I was around him and Clay found out. I couldn't let anyone get his because of me.

"Well then," he sighed, happily, "now that we understand each other. I will show myself out."

He took a step closer and leaned over me. I cringed into the couch but was unable to get away from him. I left his lips on my cheek and I closed my eyes tightly shut. My skin started to crawl, even then he made contact. He lingered and I willed myself not to push him away. I knew that wouldn't be a good idea.

Clay finally pulled away and I let out the breath I was holding.

"You will learn to feel the same way for me," he stated, "as I do for you. We will be happy together."

' _Highly doubt it,_ ' I thought.

"Now behave and everything will be just fine. I will see you in couple weeks."

I would have to find a way to get out of this situation before then, but right now all I could do was sit where I was and stay quiet. For me, this wasn't something I normally did. Around people I knew and kind of trusted I usually spoke my mind. They excepted it of me. When it came to my father and Clay it was the smartest thing I could do.

~J&M~

My stalker didn't linger; he just walked out the front door, telling me to lock it when I got a chance. I didn't dare move, not even when I heard his footsteps disappear down the hall. My body was shaking, and I stared at the wall in front me where the TV stood. I was in a daze and I was scared.

No matter how hard I tired I couldn't think of a way to get out of this situation. My brother was out of the question. He didn't believe me when I told him someone was following me, so why he would he believe me if I told him Clay forced himself into our apartment and threatening me. Adam positively wouldn't believe me when I told him Clay was the one stalking me.

Jay was definitely out of the question. I wasn't the only one who my stalker had threatened. If I got Jay involved it would probably end badly. I didn't want anyone to get hurt because of me. I'm also pretty sure if I went to the men and Erin in the Intelligence Unit and they got a hold of Clay, he would tell them he didn't know what I was talking about. Which meant, Adam, and the Intelligence Unit would be mad at me and I would be in a world of hurt when it came to my stalker.

So, all this meant I was shit out of luck and I was gonna have to figure this out on my own. Piece of cake, right?

It was starting to get dark when I finally got myself out of my daze. I got off the couch, clocked the front door and went to my room. After locking my door, I headed straight to the bathroom to get ready for bed. As I took my shirt off, I could feel they were sore, and I soon saw why. When I looked to see what the problem was I saw Clay's hand prints on my upper arms. I wasn't surprised, and didn't eye them long. It wasn't anything I was used too.

After putting my pajama's on and brushing my teeth, I jumped into bed and pulled the covers up to my chin, hoping for sleep. Sadly, it didn't come. I laid there awake, paranoid that Clay would be coming through my locked bedroom door.

Around ten thirty I heard the front door open and close. I tensed up but soon relaxed when I realized – as far as I knew – Clay didn't have a key to my apartment. The only two people who had a key was Adam and Wendy. So, that meant my brother must be home.

I heard his footsteps coming down the hall. He knocked on the door and waited for me to answers. When I didn't, him wiggle the doorknob, but soon figured out the door was locked. I heard him let out a sigh.

"Mo?" he called. "Are you in there?"

"The door wouldn't be locked if I wasn't," I mumbled.

"Can you let me in?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I want to be a lone. And the last time I checked I wasn't going to talk to you after what you did."

"Are you still going on about that?"

"No, of course not. I just said it because I left like being a bitch."

Adam groaned, but I ignored him. He tried the door again, but it still wouldn't budge. I didn't say anything; I was too exhausted and scared to even leave my bed.

"Please open the door sis," he grumbled.

"No," I replied.

"Fine be that way."

"Plan on it."

"I just come home to tell you, I'll be going to work tomorrow. Hank thinks he might have a case to work on."

"Thanks for the heads up."

My brother didn't say anything as he walked away. I heard his door slam shut and then the apartment was quiet. There was just so much I could take in one day.

That night was in and out of sleep. Every little sound I heard I would wake up and it would take me forever to get back to sleep. My mind would spin with so many thoughts it was hard to keep them straight. I knew work was gonna suck in the morning.


	9. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8.**_

 _ **Work Week**_

Wednesday morning – two days after my incident with Clay – I woke up to an empty house, for the second day in a row. I don't know if my brother was trying to avoid me or if he really had to stay late for work. Perhaps he was staying at Wendy's; to be honest he could be anywhere right now. Whatever it was I really didn't care. I was still mad at him after he didn't believe me. He was going to have to apologize to me before I would speak to him nicely again. Knowing him that was going to be a long time. We were both stubborn and didn't know when to give in, but it's better for me to stay away from him right now. I still need to figure out how I was going to get out of the clutches of Clay.

I lay in bed for ten minutes after my alarm went off. I was working a twenty-four hour shift today and I wasn't looking forward to it. After today I was going to work twenty-four hours; that was going to suck big time. Sadly, there was nothing I could do about it. I had to do what I had to do and money ran the world, so it was to work I go.

Finally getting out of bed I walked to my bathroom and took a shower. As I looked in the mirror I saw Clay's handprint bruises were still there and I didn't except anything different. They were going to be there for a long time. I just needed to keep them covered, and have no one touch me till then.

Once I was done taking a shower I got dressed into my uniform – with long sleeves – and putting my damp hair into a bun. I wasn't even going to bother trying to do anything with it and make-up was out too. I checked my phone for the thousandth time, hoping I would hear something from Jay, but there was still nothing. I decided then that, if Adam was right about the case, then they were both busy.

Putting my phone in my back pocket I grabbed everything I needed; my purse – with my gun in it – keys, and an apple for the road. When I figured, everything was as it should be, I walked out the door not even bothering to leave Adam anything for diner when he got home – if he came home.

The day before was uneventful at work; a few domestics and drunk fights, but other than that nothing too exciting. About ten hours into my shift I got a phone call that chilled me to the bone. There were quite a few calls that did this. When battered women and children were involved where high on my list. As the call came in, I got my computer to working, and pressed the button on the side of my headset.

"9-1-1 what is your emergency?" I asked.

"My mommy's in the basement," a little girl's voice came through, "and I need emergency. And I need – hello!"

"It's okay sweetie. I'm here. What's your name and how old are you?"

"Abigale Nickels and I'm nine."

I typed the information she gave me into my computer, as I tried to find her location. The single was anywhere and everywhere; it was more than likely a burner. I hated it when someone called on one of those phones. It made my jobs a whole lot harder.

"Okay," I said. "Thank you, Abigale. Now can you tell me where you live?"

"Mommy," the little girl cried. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you, I'll tell you where we at! I'll tell…"

"Let me talk to your mom."

"No, She's almost dead mommy! Where we at? Tell me! I got the police on the phone, tell me! Mommy tell me where we at?"

"Can you put your mom on the phone is she's there?"

"She's almost dead, please."

My eyes flew across both of my computers, trying to find, at least, her general location, and who I could send out. The little girl sounded like she was almost in hysterics. I needed her to stop screaming or this was going to take longer than necessary.

"Abigale," I called nicely, "I'm gonna need you to stop scream sweetie. I can't help you without you helping me. Who else is in the house?"

"It's just me and my mommy and my little sister," she answered.

"Okay. I'll tell you what. How about you go to the porch for me. Tell me everything you see. Can you do that for me?"

"Okay."

I heard her little footsteps over the headset and the door opening. Once she was there she told me everything she could see from houses around her, to all the trees. From what I could tell she was nowhere close to where I live, considering she lived in a house and I lived in an apartment. She described broken down homes so that meant she had to live on the South side of Chicago. I have lived in this city all my life and I couldn't tell you all the places I haven't seen.

Soon I got the general location and saw that Kim and her newest partner, Sean Roman, where around the area. Once I got more information I would call them and an ambulance for the mother.

"Thank you, sweetie," I praised her, after she was done telling me everything. "Now how old is your sister?"

"Okay," the little girl recapped. "I know the address now."

"Abigale I'm going to need you to tell how old your sister is."

I didn't hear any crying on the other end of the phone, so I was hoping the little girl was alright. It was one thing to have something wrong with the mother I didn't know what I was going to do if there was something wrong with the sister too. Right now, I needed to know what Kim and Roman were going to get into. Kim was the best person for some children. She was a woman and seemed less threatening, but would be protective over a small child if she needed to be. Considering there were two children in this situation I was glad I was sending her too them.

"She's four," Abigale answered.

"What is her name?" I asked.

"Anna."

"Where is she?"

"She's in her bedroom room sleeping."

That was good to know. I couldn't help but wondering if she slept through everything that had happened to her mother or if Abigale put her to bed. Either way it was probably for the best, if she was out of the way.

"I know the address now," Abigale said.

"Okay," I muttered. "What is it hun?"

"17394."

"What is the street?"

She rattled off a street name and I typed it in as fast as my fingers would let me. Kim and Roman were a few blocks away. Just a few more pieces of information and I would be ready to send them.

"Very good Abigale," I spoke to her. "Now go sit with you mom okay."

"Alright."

"Can you tell me what is wrong with your mom?"

"She got shot," the little girl answered.

"Someone shot her?"

"Yes."

"Is your mommy awake?"

"No, but she's still breathing. My dad is not."

"Your dad's there?"

"Yea."

I could feel my blood run cold as I heard her say the words. I could only imagine what happened. There was no way of knowing what really happened, and I was going to ask the little girl; she's seen too much already.

"Is your dad awake?" I questioned.

"No," she said, "he's dead."

Not understand why she could be so calm about the whole thing, I did my best to steal myself. I couldn't lose it in front of this little girl. I wasn't supposed to be the one to help her and stay calm at the same time and that's exactly what I was going to do. This little girl needed me and I wasn't going to let her down.

"Alright," I said. "Abigale, I'm going to need you to stay on the line. I'm going to call someone to help you, your sister, and your mom okay. Can you do that for me?"

"Yea," she mumbled.

"Thank you. You're being so brave sweetie. Just keep being brave for me. Stay on the line."

"Okay."

I pressed a button on my computer, I sent out a 11-41 – ambulance needed – before switching me to Kim.

"Hey Kim you there?" I asked.

"10-4," Kim answered.

"This is Monroe, and I have a possible 10-71 for you and your partner. There's a little girl there named Abigale who is nine and her sister Anna who is four. I didn't ask but I'm pretty sure their dad shot their mom before turning the gun on himself. Abigale says her mom is still alive, but barely breathing, and her dad is dead."

"We're on our way."

"Let me know when you get there. Sending you backup as well."

"Will do, 10-4"

"10-4.

As I pressed the button to switch me back to Abigale, I hoped she was on the other line. I didn't want to stop helping her. She needed to know there was someone on the way.

"Abigale," I called, "are you still there?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Okay. I sent an ambulance and a police are out to you okay. They'll be there any minute."

"Thank you."

"It's no problem sweetie. Just keep being brave."

"I will."

"We're at the scene," Kim informed me, over my scanner. "Stand by."

Not long after I heard a knock on the door through my headset. Hopefully they were there in time to save the mother. I pressed the button and spoke to Kim.

"10-4," I answered.

Quickly I switched back to Abigale.

"The cops are there sweetie," I told her. "I'm going to let you go so you can talk to them okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

"Stay brave little one. Bye now."

"Bye."

It wasn't long after I hung up with Abigale, Roman spoke to me through my headset.

"Ruzek?" he called. "You there?"

"Yea?" I answered.

"Burgess is with the little girl and her sister. Backup just showed up, along with EMS, and we're heading down to the basement to see what the situation is. Burgess wanted me to let you know."

"Thanks, Roman. Tell Kim to let me know what happens."

"Copy that. 10-4."

"10-4."

I turned off my headset and took it off. Letting out a breath I didn't even know I was holding, I closed my eyes. This was the job us Dispatchers had to go through. Yes, it was hard and stress at times, but at least we ended up helping people in the end.

~J&M~

About an hour after Abigale's 9-1-1 call I was having a little break. My mind was still swimming with so many thoughts, it was hard to pick just one to think about. The little girl's voice rang through my head yelling for her mom. I wondered if the mother had survived or if those two little girls were orphaned. What would happen to them now if their mom was no longer there to protect them?

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Dawn came over and stood in front of me. Glancing at her I could help but think about how beautiful she was. She was in her late thirties, with long blonde hair and bright green eyes. There were laugh lines around her eyes and mouth, but they looked good on her. She was a little plump around the middle and she was around five foot seven inches tall. Her skin was a cream color but was clean of everything, including makeup. I enjoyed working with her as much as anyone else. Being a supervisor, she was strict when she needed to be but kind and understanding when things were rough.

Dawn was my work mom; or so I called her. When I first started she took me under her wing and it was a good thing too. I remember my first hard call when about two weeks after I started working here. A woman had lost her mind and drowned her four years old and newborn baby in the bathtub. The husband had come home to find her in their bedroom and the children still in the tub. I was surprised I stayed as calm as I did throughout the call.

Now even two seconds after I hung up I could feel the tears stinging my eyes. Dawn had been keeping a close eye on me and knew what was about to happen. She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the breakroom, where she closed the door and sat me in a chair.

"Let it out," she said to me. "If you don't it will eat you up inside and you will go insane. I've seen it happen to the best of us."

I lost it right then and there. She let me cry and staid with me the whole time. Once I was done crying she took my face in her hands and looked me straight in the eyes. Her face was stern, but her eyes held so much kindness and understanding it was hard not to hold on to her every word.

"Don't let this get to you," she told me. "Do you understand me? You can not let this get to you. When you get done crying and get it out of your system, you need to let it go. Bad things will happen if you don't. All I can tell you is when you get home tonight, go hug someone you love. It can be your parents, a sibling, hell it can even be a pet… It doesn't matter. Just hug them close and don't let them go until your ready to. Do you understand me?"

All I could do at that moment was nod my head. That night I need go home and hug my brother tight. He hesitated for a few seconds before returning it. Later he told me he understood why I did it. He also told me that was why he hugged me most of the time. There could be time in our lives where we wouldn't be able to hug one another again, so we had to take advantage of it when we could.

"Want to go to the breakroom?" she asked.

By the tone of her voice I knew it wasn't a question. I shrugged my shoulders and got out of my seat. Following behind her, we both made our way to the break room. She let me go in first and closed the door behind her as I took a seat. Dawn soon joined me and took the seat on the other side of the table. We stared at each other for a few minutes. This woman knew me like the back of her own hand, no wonder why she asked me to go to the break room. She knew something was up; what she didn't know was I couldn't tell her a lot of things that were going on. Clay was defiantly out of the question. My brother wasn't work related, so he was our and the same goes for Jay. So that only left the little girl and her sister.

"Alight," she sighed, "spill it. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I answered.

"Come on now. Don't lie to me Ruzek. You know I know when something's up."

"It was just that call."

"What call?"

"The one I had about an hour ago, with the nine-year-old. She had a little sister, who was only for. They were both so young yet seen something so awful."

"Yea those can get to you, but remember what I told you the second week you worked here?"

"'Don't let this get to you,'" I quoted. "'You can _not_ let this get to you. When you get done crying and get it out of your system, you need to let it go. Bad things will happen if you don't.'"

"Exactly."

A smile spread across her face. I knew that look all too well. It meant she was proud of me. Not many people in my life had ever been proud of me. My brother and his co-works seemed to be the only ones, until I met Dawn,

"Feel better?" she probed.

"Yea," I nodded.

"Okay good. Now there's something else bothering you. Is it that no good brother of yours? I take it he's still dating that Wendy chick."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you're haven't came into work doing the 'My Brother Dropped His Girlfriend' dance yet, that's why."

"Damn Momma you are good."

She started chuckling even though nothing was really that funny. Her laughs were always contagious, so I couldn't help but join her. We laughed until tears were coming out of our eyes. It was nice to forget everything for a little while. Dawn was always making me laugh when I needed it. It's one of the many reasons why I enjoy working with her.

When we were done laughing we whipped the tears away. I don't remember laughing that hard in a very long time. It felt good, but I knew it wasn't going to last very long. Once I walked out of my work building's doors reality was going to slam right into me.

"Now listen hon," Dawn said, pulling me out of my thoughts once again. "Don't listen to what that chick says to you okay. Just look the other way and act like she ain't there. I don't know what's going on and I don't think I want to. I might beat his ass for it."

"You don't even know my brother," I retorted.

"Oh yes I do. I've heard about him from other people in different departments. He has a temper on him that gets him into trouble. Plus, you talk about him more than enough. I think I know him pretty well without meeting him."

"You've got a point."

"I'm older so yes I do. Just remember I'm always here for you."

"Thank you Momma."

"No problem. Now you stay in here and try to catch an hour or so of sleep. I have a feeling something might happen here in the next few hours. I'll wake you when we need you."

"Thanks."

"No problem dear."

I watched her walk out the room. There were a few cots in the breakroom, for the people who worked twenty-four hours or more. I was grateful they were there because I really needed to catch some ZZZ's. Laying down I got comfortable and closed my eyes. It didn't take very long for me to fall into a dreamless sleep.

~J&M~

Dawn was right once again – and I had no idea how she did it. Not even two hours after laying down, she came in and told me to get my ass off the cot and into a chair in front of a computer. There was a massive gang shooting on the South side and there were a lot of calls coming in. Thank god I had those few hours or I don't know how I would survive the onslaught of calls.

I really was a very happy person to head home when my shift ended. I was really worn out. The calls seemed never ending from the time of my nap till the end of my shift, and they were still coming in. I couldn't get out of the doors fast enough; practically running to my truck in the process.

When I walked through the apartment door I didn't even bother calling for Adam. All I did was lock the front door and go to my room. After brushing my teeth and putting on pajamas I flopped on my bed and was out in no time.


	10. Chapter 9

_**Hello my lovely readers,**_

 _ **I'm so sorry this is late; please don't kill me. The end of last month and the beginning of this one hasn't been the best and I haven't felt like writing. I hope you enjoy this chapter because its going into more detail about Monroe's family. I also hope to keep this urge to write because I don't want to keep you readers waiting.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoy, and please comment.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **M.**_

 _ **Chapter 9.**_

 _ **Family Dinner**_

The rest of the week was pretty quiet and relaxing – at least where my shifts were concerned. There were no more shootings or anything else like that. I did get another call from Tammy and Bill which I was surprisingly thankful for. It was repetitive in so many ways but a blessing that nothing bad was really happening. They were just a couple of drunks getting into it like always.

Friday – my first day off – rolls around and I decided to just bum it in bed all day. I didn't care if I slept or not as long as I didn't have to get out of my comfy spot. The only time I could get out of it of course is if it was really necessary. Everything was going according to plan until around three. I was half dozing while reading a book – _Beautiful Disaster_ – and my phone starts buzzing on the bedside table. Thinking it was Jay finally getting a hold of me, after almost a week without hearing anything, I threw the book aside and hurry to grab my cell.

Looking at my screen I was kind of disappointed. It wasn't Jay like I had hoped but my brother instead. I hadn't heard or seen him since Monday, when Adam told me they would be working. Deep down I knew I missed him, but I was still extremely mad at what my brother had done. Sadly, I knew he was going to keep calling if I didn't answer the phone. I sighed and pressed the answer button.

"Yes?" I mumbled.

"Were you sleeping?" he questioned.

"No. it's three in the afternoon."

"Okay, you just sounded like I woke you up."

There was an awkward silence after that. I had never felt this way around Adam. Usually, I could tell him just about anything, but after what happened I didn't know what to say around him. I didn't know what to do.

"So, are you off Sunday?" he finally asked.

"Yea," I answered. "I told you that last week."

"I do remember hearing something about it but wasn't sure if it was a dream or not. Anyway, I was calling because dad has been asking where you've been. He wants to know why you haven't been coming to Family Dinner."

"I've been busy."

"He doesn't believe that. He says no one is ever that busy to come to Family Dinner every once in a while."

"Just like I told you; if you work the hours, I worked he wouldn't want to go to Family Dinner either."

"You know how he doesn't listen."

Adam was right. To top off our father's temper, he also forgets we told him things – or doesn't listen at all – and then gets mad at us because he doesn't remember us telling him. It made things difficult growing up. The yelling and the physical abuse. There wasn't really anything you could about the situation. It was like he was looking for excuses to hurt us. Exactly why I moved out right after I turned eighteen and only showed up when I really had too. Then there were times like these when I couldn't get out of it no matter how hard I tried.

"He told me to tell you," Adam spoke up again, "if you didn't get your ass down here, he was going to go over there and drag you to the family home himself."

"Awe," I mocked. "How sweet of him."

"He's not kidding Roe. If you don't get down here, you're going to be in some serious trouble."

"Do you really think I'm scared of him?"

"He's twice the size you are."

"That don't mean shit."

"Yes, it does. Do you remember when we were kids and how bad he used to beat mom and us?"

"As a matter of fact, I do Adam. Why in the hell do you think I got out of there and rarely go back?"

I was getting angry by now. How stupid can someone be to go to a place where all their memories are filled with nothing but pain? My whole childhood was filled with it. I didn't want to go back there for that very reason.

"Just come to the Family Dinner," my brother said, ignoring my question. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

Sure, he didn't. If he didn't want to see me get hurt, then why did he not believe me when I told him someone was following me? The more we talked the more irritated I became. I thought it was best if I just ended this conversation now before I said something that couldn't be taken back, no matter how tempting and satisfying it would be to say it.

"I'll think about it," I muttered.

"I don't think that's not such a good idea Roe," he warned.

"It doesn't matter what you think. It's my choice. Not yours and currently not dad's. If I want to go, I'll go. If not, I'll just sit around the apartment all day and sleep. I'm tired of being told what to do all the time."

"Dad's going to be really pissed."

"So, let him be pissed. I don't care. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to reading. Bye Bubba."

"Roe wait–"

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I hung up on him before he could say anything else. I was very tempted to turn off my phone, but I might be called into work, if worse came to worse; didn't want to get yelled at for not answering the phone. So instead I put it back on my nightstand and said to hell with everything. Grabbing my book, I tried to remember what I was reading before Adam called.

As I stared at the book I couldn't help my mind from wandering towards the Clay situation. All week I had been able to put him in the back of my mind and not think about him much because of work. Now that I was home, and no one was here to distract him, it was proving harder to no think about it. I had to admit he scared me… a lot, but I didn't know what I could do to make him go away.

It was clear as day that he was sick. He was a stalker and he obsessed about one person – sadly the one person was me. Of course, I heard about problems like this, but the ending was always the same three ways. One: the person who was stalked ended up kidnapped and killed because their stalker went crazy. Two: the stalker ended up killing the person because they were tired of not having the affection of the person. And three: the stalker ended up being caught and put in jail. The last one happened slimmed to none because the person who was stalked either didn't know that someone was following them, or no one believed the person. It was a scary thought all the way around.

I don't know how long I sat in my bed thinking about the problem I had, instead of reading, but soon I found myself falling asleep. Putting my book down beside my phone, I snuggled into bed and slowly drifted off to sleep. If only I would have known my dreams were haunted by the man who was after me I wouldn't have dozed off.

~J&M~

Saturday was uneventful, to be honest. All I really did was clean the apartment and run errands around town. Adam never showed up, even though it was his turn to run said errands, but I didn't mind doing the work. It got my mind off of everything that was happening and that was the best thing for me right now.

The next morning, I got up around ten and processed to take a shower. Looking in the mirror, after I was done, I noticed that my bruises from Clay were almost gone. Just looking at them, it was like the incident never happened. I couldn't think like that thought, because it did happen, and he was going to come back and do it again if I didn't figure out how to get out of the situation, he has put me in.

I decided to dress in one of my favorite baggy hoodies. It was black with a gray American flag on it. One of the strips was blue; it was to represent all the fallen first responders. With that I put on some black legging and called it good. I was planning on staying home so there was really no big reason for getting dressed up. I also decided to skip the make-up; I didn't like putting it on much anyway.

As I was getting done French braiding my hair, a knock on my bathroom door. Freezing in place I held my breath. This couldn't be happening, he wasn't supposed to be back for a long time, or so he told me. I hadn't even heard him come into the house. The silence stretched on for a few more seconds and then another knock came.

"Roe," my brother's voice came through the door, "are you in there?"

Letting out the breath I had been hold, I closed my eyes in relief. I had never been so happy to hear his voice in my whole life, until that very moment.

' _It's only Adam,_ ' I thought. ' _It's only my brother. It's not Clay. It's my brother._ '

"Yea," I answered. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh…" he mumbled. "Last time I check I lived here."

"Well you've been gone for so long I thought you had forgotten this was your apartment too."

I opened the door and he was standing right there, with his arms folded over his chest. He was dressed nice – but not overly nice – of course Adam always looked nice in anything he wore. I think it was his curse in a way. Women – and girls when he was younger – always fawned over him. Considering he was my brother I didn't see what the big deal was.

He was looking at me with a questionable look that I only knew meant he didn't approve of how I looked. I mirrored his position with my arms crossed over my chest, but I raised one of my eyebrows, not understanding what the big deal was if I wasn't going to be going anywhere day.

"What's your problem?" I asked.

"You're seriously going to wear that to dinner at our parents' house?" he questioned back. "We both know they wouldn't approve."

"I'm not. This is what I'm wearing because I'm staying home."

"I think we both know that's not going to happen."

"Oh yes, it is."

I glared at Adam with as much irritation as I could muster. Did he really think he was going to take me to the place I least wanted to be at? He was in for a rude awakening if he thought that was going to happen.

"I'm sorry about this Roe," my brother finally said, "but this is for your own good."

"What are–" I began.

Sadly, I didn't get to finish what was going to say because next thing I knew my brother had bent down, scooped me up, and threw me over his shoulder. There was no warning whatsoever. I let out a gasp of surprise but grunted when my stomach made contact with his shoulder. My brother then started walking out of my bedroom and towards the front door.

I was in a daze until he closed the door and locked it behind us. Once he started making his way towards the elevator, I realized what he was doing. That's when I started to kick and scream while I punched at his back.

"Put me down!" I growled. "I told you I'm not going to that hell hole."

"I said I was sorry," Adam responded, "but I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I really wouldn't be worried about me right now. I'm not the one who is going be dead when I can walk again."

"Sis you keep saying that, but you never act on it."

"Oh trust me, I will act on it. You have crossed a line."

"Bite me."

To be honest, I don't think he has ever told me that before and it stunned me into silence. I was quiet until we got close to his car and then I remember why we were in this situation in the first place. That's when I started kicking and hitting his back again. I really didn't want to go.

"Dammit Adam," I hissed, "put me down now."

"As you wish," he said.

I feel him lean over and drop me down on my feet. It took me a few seconds to right myself, but once I was sure I wasn't going to fall I pushed my hair out of my face and glared up at my brother. He was looking at me with amusement and that only made me madder.

We stood there for about a minute or so, in a show down trying to see who would give in first. Thirty seconds later the amusement was starting to fall from his face. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Just get in the car Roe," he muttered, opening his eyes. "Please."

"How many times do I have to tell you, no?" I questioned.

"No don't work in this situation."

"If it's against my will and I say no, yes it doesn't work."

Adam sighed again, before opening the passenger side door. He put his one hand on my head and the other on my arms. I fought with all my strength to keep myself out of the car, as he pushed my head down, but it didn't work. To be honest, I kind of felt like my brother was arresting me. This is how I've seen him out suspects or people he's arrested in the car. I really didn't like that thought of that.

Once he had me in the car, he slammed the door in my face before I could get out and locked the door. Somehow my brother rigged the lock so only he could open it; sad to say I couldn't open the door. When he was one his side of the car unlocked his door and got in.

"Put your seatbelt on," he told me, as he turned on the vehicle.

"You know this is kidnaping, right," I said.

"Not if it'll save you from getting your ass kicked. Now put on your damn seatbelt."

"After being kidnapped excuse me if I don't want to comply to your demands."

"You're so damn stubborn."

I didn't answer him as I slumped in my seat, crossed my arms over my chest and stared out the window. There had to be some way to get out of this situation; I just needed to figure out a way before we got to my parents' house.

When my brother pulled up to a blue three-story house, I still didn't have an answer. As I stared at my childhood home, I couldn't stop the flashbacks of the hell I went through here until I was fourteen. That was when our mom got smart and took Adam, our sister, and myself away from this place – why she took me I'll never know; she doesn't seem to like me much. A few months later dad invited all of us to Sunday dinner, and even though my parents got a divorce, we all still had dinner together one day a week. For the past few months though, I tried my hardest to stay away from this place; and yet here I was about to be dragged in.

Adam got out of the car and walked to my side to open the door. He watched me as I stared off into space. How he thought this was a good idea, I will never know.

"Come on Roe," he said softly. "They'll be starting dinner soon."

"I don't wanna be here Adam," I whispered.

"Well, I don't wanna see you get hurt."

What he didn't know was I was gonna get hurt either way. It didn't matter if it was from our father or someone else, someone was gonna hurt me eventually. Even if I told him what had happened Monday evening, he wouldn't have believed me. I could have showed him the bruises and how scared I was but that wouldn't have mattered.

"Let's get this over with," he coaxed. "We're already going to be in trouble for being late."

My brother put his hand on my upper arm, and gently pulled me from his car, but I couldn't feel anything; I was numb all over. I was walking into a room full of people who didn't like me. Now that I think about it, Adam was the only person who seemed to care about me, and yet he and I were supposed to be fighting. As the two of us walked up the driveway I wanted to turn and run away, but my brother had a secure grip on my arm, which meant I wasn't going anywhere. Adam paused at the door and looked down at me. I could tell he was worried; sadly, he wasn't going to budge. He had his mind set and we were both going into that house whether I liked it or not.

When he figured I was as ready as I was ever going to be, he opened the door and pulled me through. I tried my hardest not to go forward but he was stronger than I was and there was no use in fighting it. Adam lead me down a hallway and it didn't take me long to hear voices coming from a room on the right. The sharks were waiting for us, and who knew how many were there. As we came up to the doorway, I heard a young boy laughing; so Sammy - our nephew – was here. That only meant Katie was here too… joy.

"Don't forget to smile," my brother whispered, putting his own smile on his face.

He pushed me in ahead of him, after moving his hand to my lower back. Without hesitation, I did as I was told and put a fake smile on my face. It wasn't hard, I had done it many times before when it came to these things. I looked around the dining room table when everyone came into view. At each end of the table were my parents; Bob and Diana. On the left side of the slab of wood, facing the door, was Sammy and Katie with an open chair in between my nephew and mom. Then on the right side of the table was Wendy. So, Adam had brought her a long; just what I needed.

It became quiet when everyone saw me walk through the door. Wendy turned around in her seat to see what everyone was looking at. When she saw my brother, her eyes lit up and a smile came to her face. I could see her eyes flicker to me for a few seconds. There was nothing but hatred in them for me. If I wasn't trying to look happy to be here, I would have showed her that the feelings she held for me were mutual.

"Well," my dad said, breaking the silence, "look who decided to grace us with her presents. Our long-lost daughter Monroe."

He was slurring his words, so I knew he was already drunk. This outing just got better and better. Adam put his hand back on my arm and pulled me over to where I was supposed to sit. Once he knew I was going to stay sitting he made his way to sit next to Wendy. Everything was quiet as everyone looked at me and I tried my hardest to keep the smile on my face.

"What took you so long to come see us MoMo?" my dad slurred. "You think you're too good for us?"

"I've been busy," I lied, the smile slipping from my face.

"Oh bullshit. Don't lie to me little girl."

"Bob!" my mom snapped. "Not in front of Sammy."

"Stay out of this Diana."

One of the many reasons why I didn't like coming here; dad and mom fighting because of something I did. My sister always used to say it was my fault they fought all the time, but she never told me what for. I always thought it was because I was adopted. The reason why, I didn't look like anyone in my family. Katie took after our mom; blonde hair, brown eyes, with the same light build, thin lips, and high cheekbones. Adam was almost our dad's twin; Brown hair, dark brown eyes, with a muscular build, but dad had a beer belly. Then there was me; red hair, light blue eyes, full lips, with a natural muscular build.

See what I mean, nothing like them at all. Everyone's hatred for me – besides Sammy and Adam – showed me something was up. I just never could find anything around the house that proved my theory. All off this and more made my life in this house so confusing, which made things frustrating.

"Are you going to tell me the truth or not?" dad growled.

"I already told you," I retorted. "If you don't believe me ask Adam. He lives with me after all."

"From what Wendy has been telling us, he's been staying with her for a while. So even if I asked him, he's getting his information from you, and you've been known to lie to us before."

' _I've never lied,_ ' I thought, as my blood started to boil. ' _You just choose not to believe me when I told you the truth._ '

"Daddy," Katie jumped in, before I could say anything, "can't you do this later when my son isn't around?"

Our dad looked over at his favorite daughter. When she gave him those eyes and used that voice he could never resist; the use of daddy, like a small child, helped a lot too. I watched as dad's eyes softened when he looked at Katie and then he glanced over at Sammy. The young boy looked scared at his grandfather's outburst and my dad smiled at him.

"Of course, Kate," he muttered. "I'm sorry for scaring you Sammy."

It took all my willpower to not roll my eyes at the scene in front of me. One glance over at Adam, and a small shake of his head, I put the fake smile back on my face. After years of being treated this way I knew where I stood in the family and even though it still hurt, I knew things weren't going to change.

When things calmed down, the food was passed around the table. Even though I wasn't very hungry, I put nice amount on my plate to make it look like I was going to enjoy myself. Everyone around the table talked happily, but I stayed quiet and only half listened. My face started to hurt half way through the meal because of the fake smile, but I kept it plastered on my face, as I hoped for this moment to end so I could go home.

Dessert consisted of the same thing we had every Family Dinner; peach pie and vanilla ice cream. Before we began Adam cleared his throat and for once everyone was looking at him and Wendy. She was smiling happily at the family, with her eyes shining bright.

"Considering the whole family is here," Adam began, "Wendy and I have an announcement to make."

"We're engaged," Wendy squealed, without hesitation.

She held out her hand to show everyone and as they all smiled, squeal with joy, and said their congratulations my stomach dropped. The smile slipped from my face once again when my brain came to terms with the ring that was on her finger. It wasn't too flashy, but it wasn't simple either. The diamonds around the band connected to the biggest diamond in the middle. It was our grandmother engagement ring; she never took it off until the day she died. When my sister got one of her old necklaces and Adam got our grandfather's old pocket knife, nana Glenda – dad's mom – told me when it was my time to get married this was for me. I had given it to my mom for safe keeping until I was ready… if I was ever ready. Now here it was on the finger of a woman that I dislike very much.

I glanced over at my brother, once everything had come into focus. He was staring at me with an apologetic expression on his face, while Katie hugged Wendy. After he knew what that ring meant to me, the only thing I had left of our nana, he gives it her. The sick thing was he didn't even ask me if he could have or borrow it. He knew what my answer would have been, so he went to our mother instead. This was almost as bad as telling me he didn't believe me. I didn't even know how this man was.

~J&M~

The rest of dinner passed with talk of wedding details – even though there weren't many at the moment. Katie was asked to be the maid of honor and I was left out of it, lie the conversation. I didn't even bother to put a smile on my face. The only good thing about the announcement was no one paid attention to me; it was like I wasn't even there.

After everything was cleared from the table, I tried my best to stay out of people's way to sneak out of the house. I had had enough fun for one day and all I wanted to do was go home or to Molly's, whichever my legs took me too when I walked home. I didn't want to ride with my brother after everything he had done to me recently. It was best just to get away from everyone for a while.

I found my opportunity when everyone moved toward the living room. Staying quiet I went into the opposite direction and headed for the door. Closing it softly behind me, I watched my steps as I walked down the stairs. I didn't want to slip at fall just as I was making my escape. Just as I got to the end of my brother's car, I heard the door open, but I just kept walking.

"Roe," Adam called as he ran up to me, "where are you going?"

"As far away from this place as possible," I growled, not turning around to look at him.

"You can't leave yet."

"Yes, I can, and I will. I'm done with everything for today."

"At least let me give you a ride."

"Hell no."

"Come one Monroe."

Feeling his hand grab my arm I spun around and jerked it out of his grip. He looked taken aback, holding his hands up in surrender, as I glared at him. I couldn't believe he had to audacity to have an innocent expression on his face right now. He had to know what he had done and how mad I was at him.

"Stay away from me Adam," I hissed. "I don't want anything to do with you right now."

"What did–" he began, but that was his mistake.

"Don't you dare finish that question! You know exactly what you did!"

"Roe–"

"I mean it! Stay away from me until you become my brother again, because who you are right now… I don't even know who you are. Now go back into that house with your family and your _fiancé_ and leave me the hell alone."

Turning around I almost ran away. I needed to get out of here and away from anyone who I once called my family when I was small. If I staid I was going to say things I didn't mean and regret later – or maybe I wouldn't but I wasn't going to risk it either way.

"Oh," I called back, "and I don't want an invitation to the wedding."

Adam called my name as I walked away from him, but he didn't try to follow. He probably had an idea what would happen if he did. As I walked, I thought which place would be closer to walk to – my place or Molly's. The bar was closer and knowing my luck there was someone there I knew who would take me home. So, I took a left and started heading to place where I knew I would be safe from a lot of people, including my father if he decided to come looking for me.


	11. Chapter 10

_**Hello my lovely readers,**_

 _ **I just want to tell you this week I will be adding two new chapters this week. So, chapter 10 (which is this one) and 11 will be added. Think of it as an apology for being late on updating last week. I hope you enjoy these two chapters. Please write reviews, they make things a lot easier.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **M.**_

 _ **Chapter 10.**_

 _ **Trust**_

If anyone would have told me Adam would have done the things, he'd done in the past week I would have told them they were full of shit and never talk to be again. Sadly, he did do the things he did, and that was the reason why I was walking towards Molly's right now. I was needed a drink which was something I had never thought I would need. My day had sucked and was hurt; all I wanted to be was numb all over, forgetting all that happened today. What I didn't know was my evening was about to get worse.

As I walked through the doors of Molly's laughter and music greeted me. I saw failure faces, smiling and nodding to them as they acknowledged me. Making my way to the bar, I stopped in my tracks as I seen who was already sitting there. My blood started to boil again when my eyes landed on the face of Jay sitting with his brother. I don't know who I was pissed at more; Adam for his betrayal or Jay who ghosted me after one time of hanging out together. They were both pretty unforgivable.

Will saw me first and jabbed his older brother with his elbow. Jay glared over at Will and then looked my way when his brother gestured in my direction. His eyes got wide and it was like he was seeing me for the first time. He really was a handsome man, but that didn't mean I wasn't still mad at him. I watched him turn to his brother, before getting out of his seat to walk over to me.

"I know you're mad," he said over the music.

"Oh honey," I murmured, "I'm more than mad. After the week I've had I'm way past mad; I'm livid."

"I know Grace, and I'm sorry I haven't got back with you. I just thought it would be better to talk to you in person."

My blood instantly started to run cold. It's never happened to me, but I heard girls in high school crying about how their boyfriends broke up with them. This is usually how it started – until texting became a thing. He and I weren't even together, and it felt like he was going to break up with me.

"Talk about what?" I asked.

"Can we step outside?" he offered.

I nodded my head and turn around to lead the way out the door. When we were a few feet away I turned around to face home head on. Crossing arms over my chest, I glared at him. I wasn't going to show him how hurt I really was. I wasn't some weak teenager who let just anyone have her heart. Yes, I felt like there was something between us, but I guess I was the only one who felt that way.

"Okay," I said, "we're out here and I'm listening."

"Alright," he muttered. "I'm just going to say it… I don't think we should be friends."

Surprisingly, his words were like a blow to the chest. I knew this was coming, but that didn't stop it from hurting less. After years of practice though, I was able to keep my expression blank, making it look like I wasn't hurting inside.

"And why is that?" I questioned.

"Because it would be a conflict of interest," he stated.

"How in the hell would it be a conflict of interest?"

"I would with your brother."

"Everyone in your unit works with my brother and I'm friends with them."

"I'm not like them. I don't mix my work life with my personal life. It's just not who I am."

I watched him as he spoke and there was something off. He wouldn't look me in the eye when he was talking; in fact, he was glancing around at everything around us but me. This usually meant someone was lying. Oh well, if he wanted to lie to me about something as simple as why he hadn't talked to me since he dropped me off Monday evening, so be it. I wasn't going to put up with someone who didn't want to be honest with me.

"Alright," I muttered.

"What?" he asked.

He seemed a little taken back. I guess he thought I was going to fight back. Why would I if there was nothing to fight about. He made up his mind, there was no use in having a tantrum over it.

"If you didn't want anything to do with me," I began, "all you had to do was say so. You didn't have to show me a good time to please me."

"That's not what it was," he said.

"Oh please. Don't pull that bullshit on me. I'm not stupid. I can tell when someone is just playing games and you played the biggest one of them all. I just can't believe I fell for it."

"Again, that's not what it was at all."

He was yelling at this point and I could tell he was getting angry. To be honest I didn't care if he was mad or not; I was way past that point. The way my week had gone was more than enough of a reason for me to care less about how other people felt.

"What was it then?" I asked. "Can tell me that?"

"I wanted to see if it could work out okay," he growled in frustration. "I really want it too."

"Whatever."

I turned toward the front door of Molly's to go back inside, but Jay grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Gracey," he said from behind me, "please wait."

Without realizing what I was doing I spun back around and slapped him hard across the face. The sound echoed through my ears and his blue eyes were wide with shock. I wanted to feel sorry for what I did but I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I held my glare. He slowly let go of my arm, as he took a step back, putting his hands up in the air.

"Stay away from me," I told him, "and don't you ever call me Gracey again."

Just as I was walking into the bar Will was walking out. He was going to say hi, but I cut him down with a glare. Walking past him I made a beeline for a bar stool and ordered a shot of tequila. Hopefully with a few shots of this I would be able to forget everything that happened within the past week. If it didn't, I wasn't sure what I was going to do.

~J&M~

I did my best to pace myself, but within the hour I had three shots. My body was heavy, and my vision a little blurry, but I wasn't numb like I wanted to too, so I took my fourth shot. Feeling the tequila burn on the way down, I closed my eyes tight and waited for it to go away. By shot number six I had numb lips and my teeth were getting there. Today was spinning in my head like a scene from a movie; it went from Adam kidnapping me, to the engagement announcement, to seeing and talking to Jay.

Just as I got done throwing back shot number seven, I saw someone sitting down beside me from the corner of my eye. I rolled my eyes and waited for them to go away, but they just sat there.

"Listen buddy," I muttered, "I'm not in the mood for company, so take your sweet talking somewhere else because you're not getting anything from me."

"Not really why I came here," a gruff voice chuckled.

My head jerked to the side and my vision swam a little but when I could see straight, I saw Voight was the one sitting next to me. I was so embarrassed about what I said, I could feel my cheeks get hotter, through the alcohol. Today just wasn't my day apparently.

"I'm so sorry Hank," I apologized. "I didn't know it was you."

"Well of course, you didn't," he chuckled, smiling a little. "You've had seven shots since you sat down."

"You've been watching me?"

"Yea. I was sitting and talking with a old friend of mine. Saw you came in and then walk out with Halstead. I thought you had left with him until Will left and you came back in and sat down. What happened? Did you and Halstead get into a fight."

"I wouldn't really call it a fight, more like a heated discussion."

"Well what was this heated discussion about?"

I sighed before looking away from him to stare at my empty shot glass. This was something I didn't really want to talk to him about. He more than likely would think of me as a childish person and not take me seriously and I didn't need that right now at all.

"Nothing," I muttered.

"Has it anything to do with your brother telling him to stay away from you?" Voight asked.

This was something new to me; so new my head snapped back to glance at the Sergeant in front of me. What did he mean Adam had told Jay to stay away from me? The man had no right to say anything like that when he was dating someone I despised.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"Tuesday morning your brother and Halstead got into it," he informed me. "Something about it not being a good idea to be around you because you already had two cops in your life and having a third would only make things more dangerous than they already were."

"Are you kidding me?"

The man in front of me shook his head no and for the third time that day my blood started to boil in my veins. This day just got better and better, and it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon.

"How dear he!" I exclaimed, slamming my right hand down on the bar. "That no good son of a bitch. Doesn't he already know I have a lot of friends in the police department. He has no right to do that."

My hand stung from the blow but I couldn't feel it a whole lot because of the tequila running through my system. Adam was in a world of hurt the next time I saw him that was for sure. I couldn't believe Jay went along with it. Shit was really going to hit the fan now and it was no one's fault but my brothers.

"Adam better hope he doesn't see me anytime soon," I growled, holding my right hand to my chest. "He pissed off the wrong sister."

"Calm down Stringbean," Voight suggested, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You two have been through worse."

"You've got that right, but he's in so much trouble with me lately it's not even funny."

"What's he done now? It must be pretty bad if he's got you so riled up."

"Besides kidnapping me this morning to take me to my childhood hell hole and giving my grandmother engagement ring to the woman I hate, which belonged to me I might add, he also didn't believe me when I told him someone was following me Sunday when I went to the grocery store. Why he didn't–"

"Wait. Someone did what?"

I hadn't realized that I had been ranting. This was something I did only when I was drunk or let my feelings build up and overflow. I think it was both this time. I didn't mean to let it slip about Clay following me and now Voight was going to think I seeing things just like Adam.

"It's nothing," I shrugged.

"It has to be something. Tell me."

"Hank–"

"Monroe, you answer me right now."

Hank Voight never called me by my first name; it was always Stringbean, kid, or Mo. So, the meaning was clear… he meant business. There was no getting out of this one. I guess I could tell him what I told my brother. I didn't necessarily have to tell him I already knew who was following. Of course, I had to tell him something or he wasn't going to leave me alone. Taking a big breath in and then letting it out, I finally gave in

"Last Sunday," I began, "I had to run to the grocery store. While I was there, I had a feeling someone was watching me, so I got what I needed and high tailed it out of there. When I was driving back home, I saw someone was following me. I made sure before I called Adam who was at Wendy's. He told me to come right over and he'd take care of it. Once I got there, I parked, and he came out. The car that had been following me slowed down but didn't stop. My brother thought I made the whole things up even though he saw how scared I was."

Voight nodded his head in the right places and looked like he was thinking really hard about this. I wanted to get my hopes up that he would believe me but didn't want to be let down if he didn't, so I sat there and waited while he thought things through.

"Do you know what car it was?" he questioned.

"I think it was a Range Rover," I stated.

"Color?"

"Black."

He was asking all the right questions, that had to mean he believed me. If he didn't this was just a waste of my time. I could feel my hopes start to rise, but I didn't let them go too far. I turned my chair to face him more to show him I was willing to tell him anything he needed to know.

"Did you get a license plate number?" he asked.

"No," I confessed. "I was too busy trying to get away from whoever it was."

"Did you see the driver?"

At this point I wanted to tell him, I really did, but I didn't want to risk anyone I cared about getting hurt. I know Clay didn't say anything about hurting the one I loved but I couldn't take the chance that he would. If Voight sent someone out to talk to him, he'd known I'd spoken to someone in the department and who knows what would happen. It was better to keep Clay's name out of it and see if there was some other way to get rid of him.

"No," I said again, making sure to look in his eyes, "the windows were too tented."

"Alright," he muttered. "If you see this vehicle following you again call me. I'll take care of it."

"You mean you believe me?"

"Of course, I do. Why wouldn't I?"

"I just don't get it. My own brother wouldn't believe me when I told him. He even saw the car slow down."

"Well I'm not your brother, am I kid?"

"No but… I guess I'm just relieved."

"Don't be afraid to tell me anything. I'm always here for you. It doesn't matter if it's day or night, call me anytime.

I could feel tears well up in my eyes and fall down my cheeks. Before I stop myself, I threw my arms around Voight's neck and hugged him tight.

"Thank you, Hank," I sobbed.

"Anytime Stringbean," he murmured hugging me back.

He patted my back a few times before letting me go. I saw the smile on his face and returned it without a second thought.

"Now," he said, breaking the silence, "I think you've had enough to drink. Would you like me to take you home?"

"Yes please," I nodded.

"Alight."

Hank took his wallet out of his pocket and through some money down on the bar. I was about to object, but he held his hand up and told me not to worry about it. Thanking him, he led me out of Molly, making sure I didn't fall because of my alcohol intake, and to his black SUV.

It was quiet on the way to the apartment and I was thankful for the silence. The man knew where I lived, having been there a few times himself, so I didn't have to give him directions. As we drove, I still wanted to tell him who the man following me really was, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew it was going to bug me for a long time to come.

We pulled up about ten minutes later and I was about to open the door, but Voight put his hand on my shoulder. Looking back, I saw he had a serious expression on his face.

"Don't forget to call me if anything happens," he ordered.

"I will," I agreed.

"Have a good night Stringbean."

"You too Hank. Thanks again."

"No problem."

I got out and walked to my building's front door. Hank waited till I was inside before he drove off. I decided to take the elevator because I didn't know if I would face plant on the stairs. Knowing my luck that would really happen and I didn't need anything like a hospital visit right now. Walking down the hallway to my apartment I couldn't help thinking how Voight was the only person I could trust at this moment. The man had given me no reason not too and he would never know how much that meant to me.

Once I was in the door, I locked it and made a beeline to my room. I didn't bother changing my clothes – just took off my bra – it was took much work at this point. My first stop was my bathroom to brush my teeth. When I was done with that I walked to my bed and jumped in, pulling my covers up to my chin. I snuggled into my mattress and slowly let the tequila take me into oblivion.


	12. Chapter 11

_**Hello my lovely readers,**_

 _ **I wasn't sure if I let you know. I posted Chapters 10 AND 11 on the same day. I'm not sure if many of you think I just posted this chapter, but I didn't. Hope you readers enjoy these two chapters. Please comment and review.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **M.**_

 _ **Chapter 11.**_

 _ **Drama**_

The alarm woke me up the next morning around six o'clock and I groaned as the horrible sound filled my room. Thank god I wasn't hungover; with another twenty-four-hour shift starting at seven-thirty, I don't know what I would have done. I wasn't too thrilled about it, if I was being honest. The one good thing about going to work was I could leave my personal life at the door. One of the many reasons why I loved going to my job after a rough weekend; I got to forget about it for a few hours – in this case it was twenty-four – and I really needed to forget about this one.

I finally got the motivation to turn off my alarm and slowly roll out of bed. Five minutes of wasting time I got myself in the bathroom and stared at my tired reflection in the mirror. I had dark circles under my eyes and they were also red from crying yesterday. Not really how I wanted to go to work but some of it was an easy fix. There was something I could really do about the redness of my eyes, but when it came to the dark circles under them, I could put a little makeup on them and call it good.

Once all that was done, and I was dressed for work, I took one last look in the mirror. With the circles gone, I looked like my old self, or at least the person before everything started falling apart. The bruises were gone from my upper arms, but it was like they were still there because I knew they had been. Nothing was going to take that day away out of my mind. Then everything else going on; I feel like I'm going insane, I didn't know how to get through it all. I was going to have to take it one situation at a time.

Putting my thick, red, curly hair up into a professional bun, I called everything good. I wasn't trying to impress anyone, that was for sure. Opening the my bathroom door, I then made a dash around my room to pick up whatever else I needed. After I was done I stood in the middle of the room making sure I had everything I needed; going through it in my head was what I normal did. I didn't want to be driving to work and remembering I had left something at the apartment.

The last thing I grabbed was my gun and put it in my purse. I looked at it carefully for a few seconds, trying to decide if I even wanted to carry it anymore, but thought that I should, so I stuffed it in. The only other people who touched it both hurt me in two different ways and I wasn't sure if I could use it anymore; then I knew it was for the best to carry it around with me. Who knows, I might need it someday.

Going through the checklist in my head once more, I figured I had everything and opened my bedroom door. I jumped ten feet in the air, because standing in front of me was Adam with his fist raised in the air like he was just about to knock. It took a few seconds of staring at him to get my blood to boiling; not how I wanted to start my day.

I stepped around my brother, not even bothering to talk to him. After everything he has did this last week I can't believe he had the balls to show his face today. He should have known to stay away from me for at least a few days. But then again, we had never been in this big of a fight before. So I don't know how long it would be before I didn't see red every time I saw his face. It surely wasn't today, because I could definitely still feel my blood still boiling in my veins.

"Roe," he muttered. "Wait please."

Not bothering to answer him I made my way to the kitchen to grab something fast to eat. Looking in the freezer I pulled out a hot pocket, shrugging my shoulders, thinking it was good enough for now. I opened it and put it in the microwave, Adam watching me the whole time. As I moved around the kitchen making coffee, I hoped maybe he would take the hint that this wasn't a good idea and go away…

Sadly, thought, he didn't.

"Sis, please," he sighed. "I'm really sorry."

Before I knew what had happened, I had snapped. Turning around I produced the meanest glare I could and laid it on him. His eyes were wide, and he looked at little scared. As he should be after all the things, he had done this last week, he was going to see just how made I was.

"How dare you!" I yelled, my hot pocket long forgotten. "How dare you say those words to me. After everything you've done."

"All I did was give–" he began, but I cut him right off.

"That's not all you did. There is a list of things you've done that you had no right to do."

"Oh really? And what is that list?"

He was getting angry now, just like I was and again he had no right to be angry. I wasn't the one who hurt him; it's the other way around. I would have never done anything like he did to me… never. So, I was going to lay it on him and he was going to listen.

"So, you want to hear the list huh?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Yes," he nodded.

"Okay then, you asked for it. First, you don't believe me that someone is following me, when I'm scared out of my mind. Second. you tell someone I liked hanging out with to stay away from me. And lastly, the icing of this whole cake, is you give our grandmother's, engagement ring, after you knew damn well and well she had left it to me, to someone I don't even like."

"Why don't you like Wendy?"

"That's not what this is about."

"It's part of it."

"No its not. The point of this is you gave her the ring that grandma gave to me and you had no right to do so."

He paused for a second and I could see the wheels turning in his head. This was something he had done since we were little. At this moment he was grasping for straws at the moment because he knew I was right. I didn't understand why he had to be the one who was right all the time. I guess it was just a man thing and nothing was going to change. It never did.

"You weren't using the ring," he finally threw out there.

"But what if in the future I was going too?" I questioned.

"We both know you would never use it."

"But she gave it to me Adam. Me, not you. How would you like it if one day I took our grandpa's pocket knife? I know you keep it in your sock draw. So, what if I took it and you found out? What if I said you weren't using it and you never would, that's the reason why I wanted it. How would you feel then?"

Realization came into his eyes and he could see that I was really hurt by this, but that didn't mean I would forgive him for it. The damage was done and by the looks of it, nothing could repair it at this moment in time. At least we got one of the problems out of the way. It wasn't the biggest, but it was a start.

"And as for you telling Jay to stay away from me," I began, breaking the silence, "you had no right."

"I was just looking out for you," he stated. "Dad and I are already cops, and that's dangerous enough. What if–"

"What if nothing. I have a lot of friends that are cops, why is hanging out with Jay any different… Oh wait let me guess, it's because he's single, isn't it?"

"Exactly."

"We're just friends. At least we were until you got your nose into it."

Again, the realization shown in his eyes. The stubbornness was still there but I could see he was understanding this better than he had before. I felt a little better now, but the one thing that bothered me was him not believing me when I was scared out of my mind. He was going to hear it whether he liked it or not.

"Now for the first thing you screwed up," I muttered.

"We already went through this Roe," Adam groaned, rolling his eyes.

"To hell if we did. You concluded that the car wasn't following me when it was."

I was yelling again, and I didn't care. For some reason I knew Wendy had something to do with this, but I wasn't going to bring that up now. Right now, this was me trying to make him understand why I was so hurt.

"Because it wasn't," he said.

"Yes, it was Adam," I growled. "You weren't there with me when I spent a good half hour trying to get away from it, and just because it didn't stop when I did doesn't prove it wasn't following me. Do you want to know what the saddest part of the situation is?"

"What's that?"

"Someone who barely knows me, believed me over my own brother?"

"Oh, really and who was that?"

"Your boss."

That caught him off guard. This was exactly the reaction I knew I would get. He didn't believe me, so he thought no one else would and it was only a surprise when he saw he wrong.

"You mean Voight?" he finally asked.

"Yes Voight," I answered, "and you know it's pretty sad when someone who barely knows me believes what I saw, and my own brother didn't."

"Roe–"

"No don't Roe me. I'm done talking about this. If you want to keeping thinking everything you did was justified then go right on ahead, but I don't want to hear it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to work."

Leaving my hot pocket in the microware, I walked out the kitchen and towards the front door.

"You forget your food Sis," Adam called from the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry," I stated, as I closed the door behind me.

Making my way door to my truck I did my best to hold back the tears. I didn't want anyone at work to know I had been crying. There would be questions and that's not what I needed at this point. I want to leave my personal life at the door like I always did and forget about everything for a few hours. Sadly, I don't think that's how it was going to work this time around. This was definitely not how I wanted to start my day.

~J&M~

I managed not to cry on the way to work, and I was also on time to work, which was a good thing. The moment I sat in my seat I was bombarded with so many calls. It was one after the other and it was hard to keep up with them all, but I did pretty well. At least it got my mind off the fiasco with Adam this morning. If it didn't, I don't know what I would do.

About five hours into my shift I got a call that I had never got before. It was so different, I don't know how I kept a professional voice and attitude to be honest.

"911 what's your emergency?" I asked.

"Hello ma'am yeah," a woman's voice answered. "I… you see I'm cooking something here. I was wondering how much trouble you could get in for uh… meth?"

This floored me for a few seconds. I had never gotten a call from someone asking me how much trouble they could get for cooking something illegal. In the short amount of time I had to answer I called Dawn over to come listen to it. Once she got her headset on, she nodded her head.

"And you called the police to ask how illegal meth is?" I questioned the woman.

"Well yea," she muttered. "I figured if anyone would know it'd be you guys?"

Dawn glanced at me with a "is this woman for real" expression on her face. I nodded my head in agreement and watched as she rolled her eyes. Soon she was on the scanner with whoever was closer to the scene. I started typing on my computer getting a location from the call was coming from. This lady was making this easy; soon I got a location and a name.

"Is this Chelsey Cunningham," I probed, "of South Mozart Street?"

"No," the lady stuttered. "Uh… Chelsey's not here right now can I take a message?"

I held back a sigh and rolled my eyes. Dawn looked over at my computer and told the person on her end where to find out meth cooker. When I knew she had sent someone I turned my attention back to my dumb lady.

"The police are on their way, Chelsey," I told her.

"Aw shit, nuts," she cussed. "I mean yeah that's fine cause nothing's wrong here 'cept me just cooking some meth. Awe double nuts, I said it again."

"See you soon sweetie."

"Alright it was great talking to you."

Shaking my head, while holding back a laugh, I couldn't believe how stupid some people could be. Chelsey had to be high as a kite right now, from all the meth fumes. At least she was nice and made my day with her dumb call.

"It was great talking to you too," I grinned.

"Alright see y'all in a little bit," she said, happily.

She didn't even want me to stay on the line with her I guess because she hung up. I glanced over at Dawn. She was already staring back at me and once our eyes met, we both started cracking up laughing.

"I had never heard a call like that for as long as I worked in this profession," my supervisor confessed.

"That was the best call I have ever had," I answered. "I can't believe she called and asked how illegal it was to cook that stuff."

"I know right. I mean, what sane person does that."

"To be honest, I think she was very high."

"That had to be it."

The two of us laughed about it for a few more minutes before Dawn got up and went to see if anyone else needed help with a call. Not soon after I got another call. This one was less funny, and I couldn't help wishing Chelsey would call again to ask where the cops were.

~J&M~

A few hours after the funniest call of my life, I was taking a short break at my station when I heard a commotion at the front of the building. Turning my chair around to see what was going on – like the rest of my coworkers – my blood ran cold. I couldn't believe my eyes as I watched my own father stampeding through the building and yelling at the people, I worked with… looking for me. My first thought was to run and hide, but then I started getting mad again. He had no right to come to my place for work and start shit like this. If I did something like this, I would have gotten my ass kicked and served on a silver platter to my mother. Yet here he was yelling at my coworkers demanding to know where I was. This was not how a normal adult should act.

I took off my headset, jumped up out of my chair, and charged over to him. When he saw me, his face turned red, and walked over to meet me halfway. He lifted a finger at me and put it in my face.

"How dare you," he growled. "How dare you walk out of family dinner."

"I know when I'm not wanted." I told him. "We both know it. So why act like it's such a big deal. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm at work."

"Don't use that tone with me young lady."

"You know what dad, how dare you come into my work and start drama that doesn't need to be started. You need to leave."

"I'll leave when we're done talking."

The blood was boiling in my veins and I feel my face getting hot. I had to guess my face was as red as my father's. At least we knew where I got my temper from. I knew I should be afraid of him, like I had been a million times before, but enough was enough. Considering I wasn't a little girl anymore, he couldn't push me around. I match his glare and his face got redder.

"This is my place of work," I hissed, "and you need to leave. If I did this to you, I would get my ass beat for it."

"You're getting smart Monroe," he muttered. "You know what happened when you got smart as a child."

"So, what are you going to do dad? Are you going to hit me in front of my coworkers? If you are, go on ahead and do it. I have a good dozen people sitting here. You won't be able to hide behind our walls at home like you used to. I'll have witnesses and don't think they'll keep their mouths shut like mom did. They'll defend me in an instant. So, go ahead, I dare you."

My father's face turned a shade of purple, if that was possible, as his jaw dropped. I had never, in my life, talked to him like this. If there weren't people watching the whole thing, he would have back headed me. He looked around at everyone watching – all the phones ringing were forgotten at the moment. As he glanced at every face in the room, he knew I was right and wasn't going to risk getting in trouble.

When his eyes landed back on me, I could see the hatred in them. At one point in my life I would have been hurt to see such a thing in the eyes of someone who was supposed to love me. Now, I could really care less. He didn't like me, no one in my family did except my brother and nephew. Why try to change something that couldn't be changed?

"Don't come to the house ever again," he finally said. "You're not welcomed there anymore."

"That won't be a problem," I answered. "Now leave."

He took one look at everyone in the room, straightened his shoulders, and then turned around to walk away. I watched him leave and then went back to my station where the phone was ringing like there was no tomorrow. Dawn started making her way toward me, with a worried look on her face, but I waved her off. I didn't want to talk about what had happened just now. I needed to do my job and that's exactly what I was going to do. When she stopped, I took it she got the hint. I picked up my headset, putting on my head I pressed the button and answered the call. So much for leaving my personal life at the door.

~J&M~

The next morning my shift was over, and I made sure I was the first one out of the building. Dawn had tried to get my attention at lunch, but I told her I wasn't ready to discuss what had happened. To be honest, I didn't want to ever talk about it. My world was falling apart in front of me and I didn't know what to do about it.

When I got home, I didn't even bother making myself dinner. All I did was change into my pajamas and brushed my teeth, then I jumped into bed. I had to get up around six the next evening for my night shift. I didn't care; if all I did was work for the rest of my life, I would be more than happy to do so. As long as it kept everyone away from me, that's all I asked.

My body was physical and emotionally drained, so it didn't take me long to fall asleep, but that didn't mean my dreams weren't plagued with nightmares of unknown figure beating to an inch of my life. Who knew if this was going to my life from now on.


	13. Chapter 12

_**Hello all my lovely readers,**_

 _ **I would like to just remind you I posted chapters 10 and 11 on the same day. It was an apology for post late a week or two ago. So, if you haven't read chapter 10 it is up. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy chapter 12.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **M.**_

 _ **Chapter 12.**_

 _ **Hostage**_

The next month passed by pretty quickly and I guess you could say it was normal; I woke up, went to work, came home, went to bed, and repeat. I didn't see my brother at all, who was probably staying with Wendy, and we stopped going on our normal lunch and dinner dates. It was probably for the best. I didn't want to say something I really didn't mean. Yes, I was mad at Adam, but there may come a day where I might forgive him. As for right now I just wanted to keep my distance from him.

It was middle June and it was hot as hell; at least it felt that way – it was around seventy-seven degrees. So that meant I slept in the living room most of the time where the air conditioning was located. Here I was right now, just getting in from my afternoon jog, trying to get cooled down. I had worked another twenty-four-hour shift – like I had been mostly working for the past three weeks – and for some reason I wasn't tired yet. Thinking if I just sat there for a few more minutes maybe I'd doze off. So far, no such luck.

Instead of sitting there being bored I thought it best to hop in a cool shower. It didn't take very long to do what I needed to do, so I just stood there, letting the water run over my body, which helped with the heat. After staying in there for a good thirty minutes, I got out and got dressed in a gray tank top, and fitting blue jeans. I put my hair in a messy bun so it was out of my face, and called it good.

I was just about to sit down on the couch when my phone started to ring. Groaning I walked to the counter where it was lying and looked at the name displayed on the screen. It was Kim and I had no idea why she would be calling me right now. If I remembered correctly she was working, which meant it must have been important.

"Hello," I answered.

"Monroe," she said. "Oh, thank god you answered."

"What's wrong Kim? Are you okay? Oh, please let it not be Adam."

Even though my brother and I were fighting, I would still want to know if he got hurt in anyway; whether it be on the job or anywhere else. Which is why when Kim sounded so anxious that's the second thing that popped into my head. Hopefully he was alright.

"Yea I'm fine," she waved off my concern. "And Adam's okay."

"Oh thank heavens," I sighed in relief. "Don't scare me like that."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"Good. Don't do it again."

"I'll try not too."

"Ok, I can live with that. Anyways what can I help you with. Considering you and my brother are okay."

"Well you see, I just got to work and I put my keys down on my seat. Grabbing what I need I got out and closed my door."

"Let me guess… you locked your keys in your car and now you need me to bring the spare by."

Trying not to laugh, I bit the sides on my left index finger. A smile was slipping on my face and it was nice to feel amused. It'd been a long time since I smiled, but I felt bad that it was because of something going wrong for Kim. In this moment, it just couldn't be helped. The reason it was so funny was she did this a lot. The only reason why I even have her spare.

"Yes," she mumbled, sounding embarrassed.

"You know you should really give it to your new partner," I advised. "He seems like he'll be staying with you for awhile so at least it would be there when you need it. Like right now for example."

"You're the only one I can trust with it. I told you this when I gave it to you months ago."

"Say no more. Now, do you need me to run it down now? Or after your shift."

"I get off at five, so maybe then."

"Okay, will do."

"Thank you Mo. You're a lifesaver."

"No problem."

"See you soon."

"Bye."

I looked at the clock it was close to eleven so I had a good five hours to get a nap in. Which was probably a good idea. I didn't want to risk falling asleep on the way there and causing a crush scene. I put an alarm on my phone to wake me up at four so I wouldn't miss meeting Kim at five. Once that was done I walked over to the couch and sat down, and pulled out the recliner. I leaned all the way back, and sighed as I closed my eyes. It didn't take long to slowly drift off to a dreamless sleep.

~J&M~

It didn't seem like I had slept very long when the alarm went off, and I wanted to go back to sleep. I almost did until I remembered why I was getting up in the first place, so I opened my eyes and turned off the annoying sound. After stretching, I got up from the couch and walked to my bathroom to make sure I was decent looking. The only thing that need to be fix was my hair. So, I ended up putting it in a have ponytail - considering it was half dry by now - and grabbed my purse, keys, and cellphone. With those in my possession I walked out the front door, making sure to lock it so I wouldn't have any surprises when I got back. Clay was still out there of course and I still hadn't come up with an idea to get rid of him. Of course, this problem has to be figured out as soon as possible because who knew what could happen.

On the way to the precinct I glanced in my rear view mirror more times than I could count. Whenever I saw a black vehicle, I about died of a heart attack, but soon realized there was nothing to worry about. Every time I could scold myself, because I was being ridiculous. That man wasn't after me this time.

' _Yea,_ ' a little voice in my head said, ' _this time he's not after you, but what about the next time you drive around? Is he gonna be following you then?_ '

I hated to admit it to myself but that little voice was right. There would be a time where Clay would come after me again. What would happen then? I needed to tell Voight that I knew who had been following me and what had happened that Monday afternoon. If anyone could help me it was Hank Voight. I'd have to tell him after I gave Kim her key.

Making it to the building in record time I could see Kim waiting for me at the front, in her street close; that could only mean she was off. Parking nearby I got out of my truck and met her by the steps. She had a big grateful smile on her face and I could see the embarrassment shining in her eyes. You'd think she'd be used to it by now, considering how many times she's done it.

"Thank you so much Mo," she greeted, as I handed the small piece of metal to her.

"No problem," I said. "What would you do without me?"

"Pay a lot of money for a locksmith that's for damn sure."

"Well I'm glad I can save you the cash."

The two of us laughed at our joke. We didn't get to hang out as often as we'd like to, with all the work that we did, but when we started talking it was like we hadn't been apart that long. Which was nice. I liked having Kim - and even Erin - around.

"So I haven't seen you around here lately," Kim stated. "Is everything okay? And don't lie to me. I know when your lying. Your horrible at it."

"I'm fine," I muttered. "Just got into a huge fight with the idiot brother that's all."

"Ah. Is it about that Wendy chick?"

"Yea. How did you know."

"Ever since you vent to Erin and me about her that one girls night at the Molly's, I had a feeling you didn't like her much. She sounded like she could cause trouble between you and Adam anyday."

"Oh trust me, she did, big time. I don't know how long this will last between me and Adam."

"That bad huh?"

"Yep."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Maybe later. I'm still getting my head around it. Even after a month."

"That's fine. I'm here if you need to talk though."

She put her hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. It was a nice gesture and I appreciate more than she could believe. Considering where I came from in life it was a great feeling to have someone there for me. She was my best friend and I hoped to keep it that way. Of course, she was one of the few people I knew I could come too and she wouldn't judge me. That's why keeping things from her was so hard for me.

"Thank you," I told her.

"No problem Mo," Kim beamed.

"So I have to run into the building. I have to talk to Voight about something. You want me to grab the key later or…"

"Oh, I can run in with you. I have to run back in and grab my purse."

"Ok then, shall we go in."

"Sure, but just to warn you, Platt is on one."

"When is she not?"

"Good point."

The two of us laughed again and walked up the stairs and through the front door. When we were in I could see Trudy at the front desk, as always, and I could tell by her body language, along with the expression on her face that Kim was right. I could practically see a vein bulging in her forehead. This analysis made me pause for a few seconds, but I soon shook my head and made my way over to her. She was the only one - besides the code and a handprint from the team - could get me into the Bull Pin. With the way she was acting, I figured she would never let me in, even though she knew who I was.

I put my best smile on my face, when I reached her desk, leaning up against it. When she glanced my way, one of her eyebrows popped up. It was like she knew what I was thinking. So maybe my charm wasn't going to work this her today, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to try. Well, here goes nothing.

"Hello Trudy," I greeted.

"What do you want Ruzek?" Platt asked.

"I would like to know how many times a day you say that to my brother."

"Way too many to want to say it to you."

"Then why say it."

"Because I know when you're going to try to cause trouble for me."

"Me? Cause trouble for you? Come on Trudy, you know I don't go out of my way to cause trouble for you."

"Uh-huh. Sure I don't."

Kim was trying to hold back a laugh, and Trudy glared at her harshly. The police officer quickly shut up and looked away. The desk Sergeant turned her sights back on me, but I didn't take the smile off my face.

"I repeat," Trudy said, "what do you want?"

"I need to talk to Voight," I stated.

"Not my problem."

"It kind of is."

"And how is that?"

"Well you see you could let me in right now, or I could sit and wait here until he leaves. That is totally up to you."

The older woman lean on her desk and inclined closer to me. She stared me right in the eyes and I held her gaze, the smile never leaving my face. I kind of enjoyed these times I had with her because, even though everyone around here thinks she's a hardass and mean, I thought the way she acted was a breath of fresh air. She didn't put up with people and their bullshit; she told people how it was and wasn't scared to do so. This woman knew what it was like to live in a man's world, and she stuck to her guns every single time she had too. I admired this woman and I wouldn't do anything to make her mad on purpose.

"It wouldn't mattered if you stayed or not," Platt stated. "He's not here. He and the rest of the unit went after a suspect."

"Then where is he?" I asked.

"How would I know? I'm not his babysitter."

"I would just like to know how long I get to grace you with my presents is all."

"Is that really what your doing?"

"What else could I be doing?"

Trudy didn't get a chance to answer because I heard someone talking behind me. I turned around and the team was coming in with someone I didn't know in the middle of them. It had to be the suspect; his hands were handcuffed in front of him and he looked like he was in a bad mood. He was maybe in his late twenties, five foot seven inches tall, with brown hair and eyes. His sick had a light tan to it, so just by looking at him I had to guess he was probably hispanic.

"Good they're here," Platt said. "No you can leave me alone."

"Always a pleasure talking to you too," I muttered, not even looking at her.

"Uh-huh. Whatever."

Kevin walked up to Kim and myself, when he noticed us. He had a smile on his face, but he wasn't sure I was paying attention too. The first person I really saw was my brother; he was one of the people holding the hispanic man, while Voight talked to someone in a white shirt. He glanced in my direction and I could tell something was wrong. He had dark circles under his eyes, from lack of sleep, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days. Giving me a small smile, he slowly looked away.

I left a light, painful in my chest. I hated hating with my brother but he never apologized about what he had done… any of it. We were definitely related when it came to the fact that we were both stubborn. I wasn't going to talk to him until he apologize to me, and he wasn't going to apologize to me until I talked to him. This was just the way we were.

Shaking my head to forget about my brother, my eyes landed on the second person who was holding the suspect. I could tell Jay was trying really hard not to look at me, but he was failing miserably. When he saw I caught him, he stopped trying, and stared at him while I did the same to him. From where I was standing I saw remorse in his blue eyes, and the pain in my chest got bigger. I did miss talking to him. He was a fun person to be around too.

My thought were brought away from Jay when I saw the suspect lean forward. My brother pulled him up and asked him what he was doing. The hispanic man pointed down at his shoe. I followed where he was gesturing too and noticed that his shoe was untied. Adam glanced at Jay and the man with the blue eyes shrugged. They let him bend down to fix his shoelace, but there was something wrong with that he was doing. His eyes were looking around the room at everyone, including me.

It was like everything started happening in slow motion after that. I watch as the man pulled a knife out of his boot before focusing on me. A smirk shaped his lips and that's when everything clicked, but by then it was too late.

"Adam!" I yelled.

Just as I called out my brothers name and he looked at me the man stood up straight and elbow my brother in the nose and Jay in the gut. When he was free from his captors he started running in my direction shoving people out of the way. His knife was at the ready so I knew if I moved I was more than likely going to get stabbed.

Faster than I thought possible he grabbed me by the waste, turned me around, before he put his handcuffed hands over my head. He got situated pretty quickly, to wear he had the knife to my throat and his left hand, that wasn't holding the piece of metal, firmly against the side of my neck. All this happened within seconds; he had us both turned around to face everyone in the room.

Every single officer in that room had their guns out and pointed at us. I had my hands up in the air for their benefit and mine. I could feel the man's breath on my cheek and it took all my self control not to fight. Adam always told me if I was in this situation I need to stay calm, don't fight, and wait for the right moment to duck.

~J&M~

It was so silent in the lobby of the police station you could hear a pin drop. The man started to walk us slowly to the back wall and I unwillingly followed, trying not to trip on the way. I kept my eyes on my brother who was trying to get his nose to stop bleeding while holding his gun up.

I knew from coming into this build a thousand times before that there was a door near by. Where it lead, I didn't know. I did know the man was just as clueless as I was, but evidently it wasn't going to stop him. I just hoped someone would stop him before we disappear through that door. Who knows what would happen after that.

My eyes darted towards Jay as he took a step forward, his gun pointed at us like everyone else's. He looked desperate and he held my gaze as he took another step forward.

"Take another step and I will slit her throat," the man said, pressing the knife deeper into the skin of my throat.

"Just let the girl go," Voight offered. "She has nothing to do with this."

"I don't think so. She's my ticket out of here and I am getting out of here. I might even take her for a test drive when I find somewhere where you can't find us."

Involuntary my eyes not wide, as I still stared at the desperate man. Not being able to believe the situation I was in. I really wanted out of this. This was not where I thought I was going to end up this morning when I got off work. All I thought I was going to do to do was drop off Kim's key, talk to Voight, and then go home to lay around the rest of the day. Yet here I was, standing here with a knife to my throat and a crazy man behind me.

I heard Jay groan angrily, but I don't think he meant for others to hear. That just made the man behind me laugh. He knew something was up with the blue eyed detective. The man put his nose into my hair and took a big breath in. A bad type shiver went up and down my spine, but I still stood still. I wasn't going to give him any reason to hurt me more than he was, with his hand on my neck. I'm pretty sure there was going to be a bruise.

The man licking the side of my face, brought be back to reality, and I could help shivering. That was the sickest thing that has ever been done to me. The suspect laughed louder; he was definitely enjoying this.

"Have you banged this hot piece of ass, Detective?" he asked Jay.

I watched his forehead crinkled, and he looked very upset at this. My eyes then moved to my brother's and he looked as angry as Jay. The man behind me must have seen it too, and laughed again. I was getting tired of his laugh; it was like sandpaper to me.

"Ah, you too Detective Ruzak?" the man assumed. "Hey Halstead did you know your colleague likes her too?"

Adam took a step forward but Erin put an arm put to stop him. What he didn't know was he was playing right into the man's hands. He always had a temper.

"You know Ruzak," the suspect continued, "I bet she loves the idea of making you watch her with him. Or is she fucking you behind his back."

Everyone around us looked sickened at the thought. What they didn't know or hadn't realized yet, but the man was slowing moving me and him to the door on our left. The only one who seemed to be looking in that direction was Jay. I watched his eyes flicker to the door and then back at me. I didn't understand why he was doing this, but I couldn't turn my head to find out.

"How about you shut your mouth Enrico," Voight growled.

"I don't think I will Voight," Enrico muttered, with a smirk, "this is kind of fun. Yo, Ruzak, any late night meets she's had to attend to recently?"

Just then I saw Jay slightly nod his head. Not even a second later I felt something touch my arm. I didn't even have time to think; I jabbed my heel into Enrico's foot hard. His hold on my neck loosened and the knife was gone from my throat. I took that time duck under his arms and let whoever had me pull me out of the away.

I just had a few seconds to see who had saved me. His eyes were blue, but they were a little lighter than Jay's, and he had light brown hair, a little past his ears. He was lean but with some muscle and he had some scruff on his face. I had to admit he was a good looking man, but I could tell that there was something sad about him as I looked into his eyes.

Enrico charged forward with the knife pointed at his; the man didn't care who he got just as long as he got someone. The new guy and I jumped a part and the guy missed. Enrico decided to go after the man pushing him up against the wall trying to push the knife into his eyes. The man was holding his own but who knew how long that was going to last. Who knew how much time he had.

Then an idea popped into my head. With the adrenaline running through my veins. I dug into my purse, pulled out my gun, and pointed it to the hispanic man's head. Once he left my gun close to his skin he froze, and put his hands in the air.

"Drop the knife," I hissed.

"You wouldn't shoot me," he gasped.

"Wanna test that theory? Just keep in mind I'm the one with the gun, and you only have a knife. So, think carefully before you make a move."

I cocked the hammer back, and pushed the gun closer to his head. He glared at me from the corner of his eye, but I didn't back down. A few seconds later he dropped the knife and it clattered to the floor.

"Now back away from him," I ordered. "Keep your hands in the air."

As the man backed away I followed him, never taking the gun away from his head. My eyes staid only on him, he wasn't going to pull a fast one on me again.

"Grace," Jay's soft voice said, coming out of nowhere.

Reluctantly I glanced in his direction; his gun was in its holstore at his side. He had both his hands up like Enrico. The expression on his face showed me he was worried… worried about me. I shook my head and I was slowly brought back from the adrenaline rush. Everyone around me still hand their guns out up they weren't as tense as they were when Enrico had me.

"Grace," Jay called again, and I looked at him again, "your okay. He's not going to hurt you. Can you give me the gun please. I promise we'll take care of him."

I watched as he held out his right hand. I stared at it, willing my brain to make my body work again. It was harder than I thought.

"You're just in shock Roe," Adam said, walking to stand beside Jay.

His hands were in the air too. Everyone looked worried about me and I didn't know what to think about it. It wasn't every day a lot of people showed they cared of me. This through me off a bit.

"Come on," Jay murmured softly taking a step forward. "Please hand me the gun Grace.

Instead of giving him the weapon I watched as Adam followed the blue eyed detective; he was slowly making his way to get a hold of Enrico. When he saw me looking at him he nodded his head, slowly putting his hand up to grab the hispanic man's wrists. Once I saw he had Enrico I slowly lowered my gun from his head and nodded back. My brother pulled the mans hands down, unlocked his handcuffs, and putting them on his wrists behind his back.

The man was escorted away by Adam and Kevin, and I watched. Jay walked into my line of vision and I stared up at him. His eyes still shown with conseren and he gave me a reassuring smile. I couldn't smile back this time; I still couldn't get my brain to function properly. Without looking away from me he slowly took my gun away, making sure to hold my gaze as he did so.

"Just breathe," he whispered. "It'll be ok."

He lifted the hand that wasn't hold my gun and slowly runs the back of his fingers down my cheek. He rested his palm on the side of my neck and I flinched away a little. Jay passed the weapon to Erin and put in fingers on my chin to gently move my head to the side. His eyes darkened pressed on my neck again. I hissed in pain.

"I take it that hurts?" Jay asked.

"Yea," I mumbled.

"It's bruised. It'll hurt for a while."

"Joy."

"Yea. Do you need an ambulance?"

"For a bruise? No I'm fine.

"Okay."

In that moment my brother came out of nowhere and swept me up in a hug. I couldn't return his embrace even if I wanted to because he had my arm pind at my sides, and I could barely breathe. Just when I thought I was going to pass out Adam let me go and held me out at arms length. He looked me over from bottom to top; when he got to my neck the expression on his face told me he was about to run up and murder Enrico. I grabbed onto his shirt to hold him there.

"I'm find Bubba," I told him. "I just want to go home."

"You're going to the hospital first," he stated.

"No I'm not Adam. I'm going home."

"But Roe-"

"No buts. I'm going home and that is final. I've had a rough day as you just witnessed and all I want to do is go to bed. I've been up for over twenty-nine hours with only four hours of sleep so I will repeat… I want to go home."

I was close to yelling at this point and everyone who was still in the room stared in our direction with wide eyes. Adam was surprised at my tone, but nodded his head in understanding.

"Ok," he said. "Give me a few minutes. I'll drive you home."

"No I'm fine," I told him. "I drove here myself, and I will drive myself home. Kim."

"Yea Monroe," she said coming up to me.

"Let's go and unlock your car."

"Sounds good."

"See you guys later."

Not giving anyone a second glance, I followed Kim out the door and too her car. We were quiet when she unlocked and gave me back the key. Before we said goodbye she surprised me by giving me a hug. She told me she was glad I was alright, and said to go home and rest. I thanked her and walk to my truck to drive home.

The whole way there I kept my mind blank. I didn't want to think about what had happened not more than thirty minutes ago. I knew I was in shock and all I wanted to do was get home and go to sleep.

As soon as I walked through the front door of my apartment, I locked the door, and put all my things on the counter in the kitchen. My gun was still with Jay so I didn't have to worry about that. When I was done in there I walked to the couch. Looking down at it I didn't even see what was in front of me. For some random reason my blood started to boil in my veins and I went nuts. I started screaming, throwing things, and crying.

I don't know how long this went on for. The only reason I stopped was when my body gave out and I fell on the couch. The last thing on my mind was if someone heard me and to be honest I didn't care if they did or not. I just laid on the couch and cried, even though I didn't know why I was crying. Sooner than I thought I slowly cried myself to sleep. In my dreams Enrico was replace with Clay and he didn't stop with bruises. He knew hope to use that knife, but I was stuck in the nightmare, and it didn't feel like I would ever wake up.


	14. Chapter 13

_**Hello my lovely readers,**_

 _ **I am sorry I didn't update last week. I liked to watch Chicago PD as I right and its only on two days a week – Tuesdays and Thursday. Plus, this chapter took a little long than usual to write. To be honest I just wasn't feeling it.**_

 _ **I'm going to warn you that the next chapter is going to take some time to write as well. Something big is about to happen and I want to get it just write. So, please don't kill me if I don't get it done by this Thursday or even next Thursday.**_

 _ **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please let me know and please continue to comment and review because like I've said before it helps me a lot.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **M.**_

 _ **Chapter 13.**_

 _ **He's Back**_

A few days later and I still haven't wrapped my mind around what had happened. One thing was for certain I didn't get a chance to talk to Voight about my stalker problem - hell I didn't even get a name for the man who help get me out of my hostage situation; would have liked to have told him thanks. I knew it was only a matter of time until the problem came back. What I didn't know was I was going to be facing my stalker sooner than I would have liked.

I had just finished a twenty-hour shift and was still sleeping in the living room when a sound from the kitchen woke me up. My eyes flew open and a froze in place waiting for another sound to come again from the room. When it did, I got off the couch and slowly made my way to the kitchen doorway; cursing up a storm in my head for letting Jay keep my gun. My heart was trying to leap out of my chest with each step I took. This wasn't what I needed after everything that has been happening to me lately.

It seemed like it took me forever to get to the kitchen doorway, but when I did, I wish I hadn't. Sitting at my kitchen table, eating a bowl cereal and going through my mail, was Clay. I stood frozen, staring at the man who acted like he lived here. My time had run out and I could feel my stomach drop as my blood ran ice cold in my veins.

"Well glad to see your up Pretty Girl," Clay greeted bringing me out of my thoughts.

He didn't even look up from my mail as he gracefully took a bite of his cereal. I had no words to say for what was going on and I couldn't believe this was happening. He was sitting here acting like he owned the place.

"You have a few bills that need to be paid," he muttered. "Might want to get that done."

"How'd you get in here?" I questioned. "The doors were locked."

"I've got a key."

"How?"

"That is none of your business Pretty Girl."

How was it none of my business? I mean this was my home, and he was going through my mail. So, I guess what I'm getting at is how in the world was this nobody's business but his own? This was Clay I was talking about and he was a little off, I shouldn't be surprised really. I did know he was going to be back sooner or later.

As I watched him, I could tell he was upset; just but the way his jaw was clenching and unclenching when he wasn't eating his cereal. His body language said a lot to; he was sitting too straight to be comfortable and his hands were where I could see them. The expression on his face made me nervous. It was calm… too calm for my liking. His eyes were on me, waiting to see what I would do or say.

"Well," he said, finally breaking the silence, "aren't you going to say something?"

"I don't know what to say," I confessed.

"Good. That's the way I like you. Your smart mouth gets in the way and you know what happens when it does."

He stood up from the table and started to walk toward me. I wanted to head for the front door but instead I stood my ground. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of showing him how terrified I was of him. If I did, it would mean he had more power over me, and I didn't want that if I was going to get out of this situation.

Once he was just a couple feet away from me, he stopped and stared down at me. His eyes were like dark pits that threatened to consume me. It was like he had no emotions whatsoever. He was the perfect sociopath and what made him so deadly was he could blend in with a crowd and no one would even know what he was. Even if I did go to someone he could easy play it off as me wanting to get with him and going crazy when he turned me down. If this man wanted to be, he could be the perfect serial killer.

"Are you going to tell me what happened to your neck?" Clay asked.

I had completely forgot about the bruise on my neck from Ernico. Of course, what happened wasn't my fault, how could it have been. If I would have known what was going to happen I would have stayed home. Yea, I would have left Kim high and dry but at least I would have been safe. Now, considering I can't see the future and didn't know what was going to happen it wasn't my fault. By the cold look in the eyes of the man in front of me, he wasn't going to see it that way.

"You don't have to answer that one," he stated, "because I already know."

' _Of course, you do,_ ' I thought.

"What I'd like to know is, how you could get yourself into that situation in the first place. I could have sworn I told you to be more careful."

If I remember correctly, I don't think he did. All he told me to do was lock my doors, but there was no use in telling him that. I would have been talking out of turn and just like my father, Clay would be more than happy to hit me. Something I didn't want to happen right now; my neck was still sore from the bruise.

I tried to put myself anywhere but where I was. Sadly, that didn't last very long, because the next thing I know my stalker grabs both of my wrists as he pushes me backwards. The wind was knocked out of me when I collided with the wall. As I gasped for air I could feel Clay holding my wrists in a death grip on either side of my head. No doubt there would be bruises there too; just what I needed.

Still gasping for breath, I had my eyes closed tightly. I could feel his body leaning close to mine and I wanted to be anywhere but here. Feeling his breath against my cheek, I did my best to not cringe away.

"Are you paying attention to what I'm saying?" he growled.

I nodded my head, not able to find my voice. To keep quiet, I bit my bottom lip to the point where it hurt. I really didn't care though. My wrists were in more pain then my lip.

"I said," he screamed, "are you paying attention to what I'm saying?"

"Yes," I choked.

"Yes what?"

"I'm paying attention to what you're saying."

"You don't seem like it."

There was nothing I could say so I stayed quiet. I found it was better to stay silent instead of saying the wrong thing and making things worse. When I opened my eyes, I made sure to stare at the floor; I didn't want to look at him.

"Even if you weren't listening then," he muttered in a low voice, "you better be listening now. Do not get yourself into another bad situation like that again, you won't like the consequences. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," I whispered without hesitation.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, my shift starts in a half hour."

He turned his head to the side, kissed my cheek letting his lips lingered. I stiffened and waited for him to stop, I didn't want him anywhere near me. It felt like forever, but he finally pulled away. He let go of my wrists and took a step back; he didn't stop staring at me. Slowly I brought my arms down to my side, but other than that I stayed as still as possible.

"I will be checking in soon," Clay stated. "Behave, and we can stop having meetings like this. I'm pretty sure I don't have to tell you not to say anything to anybody. Not your friends, or your brother, or any one on his team and that also includes your brother's _boss_. I will kill them, and you'll have to live with the guilt for the rest of your life."

I made my body as relaxed as possible when he mentioned Hank, not giving anything away. It was like he knew I was close to telling Voight. All I could do now was stay as still as possible, so my stalker would go away.

"Stay out of trouble," he warned. "We'll talk soon."

He took a second more to look at me, before he turned for the door. I stood where I was as I waited for him to close the door behind him. Soon after I slowly sank to the floor, and I started to shake. I didn't realize I was crying until a sob escaped from my throat. Putting my hands to my face, I noticed my face was wet from the tears. As I sat there and cried, I couldn't help but wonder what I had done for this to happen to me.

~J&M~

I don't know how long I sat there crying; it seemed like hours. Even after I was cried out, I sat on the floor, with my knees pulled up to my chest, feeling numb and cold. I didn't want to move from where I was because I was afraid Clay would come back because he forgot to give me a black eye or something. Or maybe it was because I didn't feel like moving.

About an hour or two after my stalker had left, I heard a knock at my door. I got up on shaky legs and slowly made my way to the door. Looking through the peephole and let out a sigh of relief; standing on the other side of the door was Jay. Even though I was glad it was him I wished he hadn't showed up. I hadn't looked in the mirror at all today, but I was sure my hair was a mess because I hadn't brushed it this morning, plus my face and eyes were red from crying. Either way, I had a feeling he wasn't going to go away so I decided it was best to answer the door. Letting out a sigh, I whipped at my face, and ran my fingers through my poofy, curly hair a few times. When I was sure I looked semi-presentable, I put a small smile on my face and opened the door.

"Hey," Jay greeted.

He had a smile on his face, showing his perfect white teeth. This was the smile that always seemed to make me melt and I could feel mine getting a little bigger. I still don't understand why he had this effect on me, but I had to admit I kind of enjoyed it. The normal sexy 5 o'clock shadow that was just a little past 5 o'clock was still present on his face. I could secretly look at him all day and not feel sorry about it, even though I probably should.

"Hi," I breathed, my voice cracking a bit.

The smile fell from his as he took in the site of me. I must have looked a lot worse than I thought. Biting my lip, I watched as his blue eyes darkened a little. There were a few emotions shining in them, and I could only pinpoint; rage and worry. The rest were a mystery to me and I wasn't sure if I wanted to figure them out.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his expression set in anger.

He took a hurried step forward and lifted up his right hand. At that moment I saw Clay in front of me, not Jay. I took a step back, turning my head away from his fingers and he stopped. My heart was racing, my breaths were shallow, and I could feel the panic set back in. Once he saw how scared I was, his expression softened and he held up his hands.

"It's me, Grace," he whispered. "You know I would never hurt you."

I knew he was right, and I kept telling myself this. Soon I could feel the panic ebb away, as my heart rate slowed down, and my breathing returned to normal. Without saying a word, I stepped back from the door. Jay took the hint, walking inside and I closed the door locking it behind us. He waited for me to lead the way down the hall and to the living room. I took a seat in the recliner, before gesturing him to sit on the couch. It didn't even bother me that my pillow and light blanket spread out on it. Neither did he evidently, because he just sat down.

We sat in silence for a while, I didn't look at him but he watched every move I made. Feeling uncomfortable I moved some hair from my face. I heard him take a deep breath in and I looked up at him from the corner of my eye. His eyes were full of anger again as he stared at my wrist.

"Who did that you?" he asked calmly, glancing at the other one.

"It was from the other day," I lied, meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry Grace, but I don't believe that."

"What did I tell you about calling me that?"

My voice was a whisper, but I wasn't mad at him for calling me Grace. To be honest, I was kind of gotten used to it by now and it was kind of soothing. I really just wanted to change the subject. He didn't need to know what had happened a few hours before he got here. I had to do what Clay said or who knows what he would do. I had a feeling he'd stand by his threat about harming anyone I told.

"Don't change the subject," Jay muttered. "Answer my question please. Who did that to you?"

"I answered your question," I said. "It happened the other day with Enrico."

"Why are you lying to me? You know you can tell me anything."

"I'm not lying. What are you doing here Jay?"

"I came to return your gun, but I end up walking in on you after you've been crying. I know someone hurt you."

"No one hurt me."

"Damn if they didn't. You were crying over something Grace, and you have bruises on your wrists. You couldn't have done that to yourself. Don't tell me it was from the other day because I know for a fact Enrico didn't grab you like that. That's why you have the bruise on your neck. Now are you going to tell me what really happened or am I going to have to call Adam."

I didn't say anything, just shrugged my shoulders and looked away. He could call Adam if he wanted to; my brother wasn't going to believe me anyway. So, in the long run it didn't matter if my sibling was called or not.

"I guess I'm calling him," Jay stated.

He watched me, while he pulled his phone out, to see if I would change my mind. When I didn't, he glanced down at his cell for a few seconds to press my brothers number. I still didn't say anything as he put the phone up to his ear. This was really unnecessary; I really didn't see a point in calling my brother. There was just going to be a big fight and I didn't want to get into it right now.

Adam answered on the fourth ring and Jay told him to get over to the apartment. Of course, my brother had a big fit that his coworker was even here with his sister. I rolled my eyes as I heard him scream through the phone. The blue eyed detective didn't seem bothered by Adam's outburst; just told him to get down here now, that it was important, and hung up. I wasn't sure if my brother would show up or not. Considering Jay was here a lone with me I there was a good chance he would.

~J&M~

Jay and I were quiet the whole time we waited for my brother. The man in the room with me stood in front of me with his arms crossed over her chest, still watching my every move. He didn't try to talk to me; he probably understood I wasn't going to say anything. There was nothing to say really. If I did say something, someone I loved or cared about would more than likely end up dead.

Surprisingly my brother made it to the apartment within the hour. When he got here, he slammed the door behind him and charged into the living room. His eyes were full of rage as they zoned in on Jay and he made a beeline for the blue-eyed man. I didn't know how this was going to pan out, but I knew if it came down to it Jay would probably end up kicking my brother's ass. Not that I would mind; there were times Adam needed to get pushed off his high horse.

"What the hell are you doing here?" my brother growled. "I thought I told you to stay away from her."

"Why don't you take a look at your sister for once," Jay advised, "instead of focusing on me."

Adam looked taken aback by his coworker's statement but reluctantly turned his attention me. By the expression on his face, I must have still been rough looking. If I would have been thinking I would have gone to my room and gotten a long sleeve shirt. Yea, it was still hot, but at least my wrists would have been covered.

"What happened Roe?" my brother asked.

It sounded like he was trying to keep his temper under control. I gazed at Adam with a blank expression; I didn't want to give anything away. If I made it seem like there was nothing wrong maybe he would just go away. I didn't want him or Jay to be around… I wanted to be alone. No, I needed to be alone.

"Nothing," I lied, not hesitating to answer.

"It sure as hell ain't nothing," Adam sighed, shaking his head. "You've been crying, and your wrists are bruised. So, something must have happened."

"The crying was from female problems, and the bruised wrists are from the other day, when Enrico grabbed me."

"I don't believe that."

"You see," Jay jumped in, "that's what I said."

"Now, if I don't believe you and he don't believe you there has to be something wrong."

"There is nothing wrong," I muttered. "It's not my fault you never believe me anymore."

Adam ran both hands through his hair, frustrated. Jay turned his attention to my brother with one of his eyebrows raised; he didn't understand what I was talking about, but he stayed quiet. I made sure to divide my attention between the two men. I know they would never hurt me but considering what happened a few hours ago I was still a little jumpy.

"This has nothing to do with it," my brother finally said.

"It has everything to do with it," I told him. "It's not my fault if I told you what happened you wouldn't believe me anyway."

That last part I didn't mean to say out loud. The two men's eyes were wide when they let the words sink in. So, they now they knew I was lying about what happened. Oh well, even if they did know, that didn't mean I was going to tell them what actually happened.

"So, you admit that something else did happen?" Adam stated.

"No," I mumbled.

"You know you can tell us what happened," Jay chimed in. "You don't have to do this alone. We can help."

For some reason I could feel my blood start to boil in my veins. Now they think they can help me? The last time I needed help with something my brother told me I was lying, and Jay just stopped talking to me. How do I know this wouldn't end the same way? I definitely wasn't going to take any chances. The only way I could see them leaving me alone was if I blow up on them, and that's exactly what I was going to do.

I let the blood keep boiling as my blank expression turned into a glare. Jay had only seen me mad once, so he didn't see any danger, but my brother had seen me livid more than once in our lives and he knew what was about to happen. He put his hands up in the air and took a step back.

"Now Roe," he muttered, "just stay calm."

"Stay calm," I exclaimed, standing up out of my seat. "You want me to stay calm? Explain to me Adam why I should stay calm? The last time I tried to tell you something that scared me, you told me you didn't believe me. And you!"

I turned my wrath on Jay. His eyes were wide again, and he copied my brother; putting his hands up in the air and taking a step back. He remembered what I was capable of when I was like this.

"I needed a friend," I confessed to him, "and what do you do? The first chance my brother gets at telling you to stay away from me, you take it. How did you think that was going to make me feel? Yea, we just hung out once, but I actually enjoyed the time we spent together. Then you leave, with no word why and that hurt Jay. That really hurt. So, don't you dare come around here and tell me you can help, because that ship sailed when you decided to leave me high and dry."

The expression on the blue-eyed detectives face told me he felt bad, but he already knew the damage was done. They were both quiet as they stared at me. The way the two of them looked at me made me even angrier. They had no right to hurt me and then try to help. It just wasn't how I did things.

"You know what?" I muttered, breaking the silence. "You two need to leave."

"Hey now," Adam said, taking a step forward, "I live here."

"I know you live here. But if you think about it you don't because you stay with Wendy more than you stay here. So, you may have your mail sent here, and you may pay rent here, but you don't live here.

"Roe, come on. I'm your big–"

"No Adam, you don't get to play the big brother card, and you don't get to play the knight in shining armor. I'm not play those game anymore."

"Grace please–" Jay sighed, giving it a try.

"I said leave! Now!"

Adam and Jay hesitated for a few seconds before they slowly made their way to the front door. I followed them, so I could lock the door behind them. Once they were through the doorway the two of them turned around with their mouths open. I didn't even want to hear it anymore; I slammed the door in their faces.

It was about a minute before the tears started to fall again. I turned around and put my back against the wall and slowly started sliding to the ground. I pulled my knees up to my chest and laid my arms across them, so I had a place to rest my head. Why did all of this have to happen to me? I always kept my head down and stayed out of trouble the best I could. I thought I was doing well but I guess I was wrong. Now I really had to think about what I had to do to get away from Clay. If I didn't something bad was going to happen and it would be all my fault.


	15. Chapter 14

_**Hello my lovely readers,**_

 _ **So, this chapter took less time to work on than I thought I would. I hope you readers are happy about that because I am. Didn't I tell you something big was about to happen?**_

 _ **I hope you readers enjoy this chapter. It took a lot of thinking and working things out, but I think it came out pretty well. Please comment and review and let me know what you think. Once again it makes my life easier.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **M.**_

 _ **Chapter 14.**_

 _ **The Call**_

It's the middle of July, and I decided it was time to move back into my room even though it was still hotter than hell outside. At least it had a lock on the door that didn't require a key to get in. That, of course, wouldn't stop someone from breaking down the door. Hopefully, by then, I had something to hit them upside the head with if the cops weren't here soon after calling 911.

Anyway, it had been a month since Clay bombarded me in my own home and the fight with both my brother and Jay. This didn't really turn to normal this time. I hadn't seen much of my brother and Jay had disappeared altogether, which sucked because he still had my gun. After our fight he never left it, so I was shit out of luck on this one. I missed them both, but I wasn't going to tell them that. They had both crossed a line and just because I missed them didn't mean I was going to forgive them. Plus, I can only imagine what Clay would do if they stuck around. I would never forgive myself if something happened to either of them, or anyone else I cared about. There was something about my stalker that just made me worry about what he might do. I couldn't risk the lives of my friends and family when he was still around.

The one person I didn't miss was Clay and I could feel him still following me. Even though I couldn't see him I knew he was there. I did catch a glimpse of him every now and again, which I think he did on purpose, but other than that all I could feel was his eyes watching my every move. Of course, he wasn't following me around all the time; he did have to work after all – if he had his way, I'm sure he wouldn't want too. Those were the times I wished for more than anything would happen more often.

I've been working twenty-four-hour shifts none stop for the past month and it was running me down. To add onto the stress of working those shifts, the lack of sleep because of the nightmares weren't helping either. The images that ran through my dreams where so real it was hard to get back to sleep once I woke up in a cold sweat and labored breathing.

Today wasn't different from any other day. I woke up two hours before my alarm was supposed to go off. As always, the cold sweat clung to my body and my breathing was shallow. My hand went up to my throat, as I remember a different hand that stopped the air from reaching my lungs. Once I realized there was no one in my room but me, I let out a sigh of relief. It was all just a dream; Clay wasn't over me trying to strangle the life out of me after he tried to stab me to death.

Then I asked the question I seemed to ask myself a lot lately. How was I going to get out of this situation without anyone's help? Just like every time I asked this question I always came up with no answers whatsoever. I knew I was going to have to come up with something and fast. Of course, I've been telling myself this for months, and it hasn't gotten me anywhere. I was just going to have to see how things played out and wait for an opportunity to "duck".

I laid in bed for another hour to see if I could fall back asleep, even though I knew it wasn't going to happen. Once I proved myself right, I finally got out of bed and went to take a shower. When I looked into the mirror of my bathroom, I didn't recognize the woman in front of me. She was paler than usual, and the dark circles under her eyes gave away the secrets of her sleepless nights. The woman looked like she was at the end of her rope with no safety net at the bottom to catch her, and that's exactly how I felt.

Turning on the water, I stripped my pajamas off waiting for it to warm up. Once the room was full of steam, I got in. The water was so hot it almost burned my skin, but I didn't care. I hoped it would burn away the remains of the nightmare; sadly, it never did.

I stayed in the shower until the hot water was gone – something I never did before. By then my wake-up alarm went off; I don't know why I even bothered setting it anymore. After I got dressed in my uniform, and my curly hair was up in a professional looking bun, I went to work on hiding the dark circles under my eyes. As the month dragged by, I had to put more makeup on than I had to do in a long time. The dark skin just kept getting darker, and also harder to hide, but I managed.

When I was done with everything in the bathroom, I worked my way into the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. I slowly looked around the doorway to make sure no one was waiting for me in the cooking space. Breathing a sigh of relief, I made my way into the room and thought it was a good idea to make some eggs and bacon from breakfast today. Doing my best to eat as slow as possible, I kept looking at my phone to see what time it was. About ten minutes before I was supposed to leave, I decided to just get to work early.

Making sure I had everything I needed it walked out the door and made sure to lock it behind me. Another thing I didn't know why I bothered to do, considering Clay already had a key if he really wanted too. I guess it was just out of habit.

On the way to work I kept looking out my review mirror to make sure I wasn't being followed. Only when I got to my work and in the building did I let out a sigh of relief. No one had followed me, and I was safe to relax on yet another twenty-four-hour shift. Okay, maybe I wasn't that relaxed. I knew I was safe as long as I was here, but once I left the building everything would be up in the air.

The first twelve hours went fairly well. Nothing too serious; a few drunk fights, a couple car wrecks, and another call from Tammy and Bill. There were no shootings, kidnapping, hostage situations, or anything like that. I mean if there were then I didn't get any of them, and that I was alright by me.

About two hours till I clocked out was when I got a call, and it was the worst I had ever gotten. I had just got off a call, from someone reporting a stolen car, when my phone started going off again. Doing what I had to do, I answered the call.

"911 what is your emergency?" I questioned.

"Ah yea," a man's panicked voice answered, "my wife and I were walking out dog. He started barking and ran off. When we finally found him, he was standing near a young woman's body."

My blood ran cold; I know there were a lot of people out there who murdered other people. It didn't mean I enjoyed hearing about it. I shook my head and motioned for Dawn to come help. Of course, it didn't take her long to get here. I watched as she put her headphones on and nodded her to head to say she was ready. She turned her attention to her screen, ready for the information I was about to get, so she could send out a squad car to the location.

"Can I get you and your wife's name please?" I asked.

"I'm John Aarons," the man told me, "and my wife's name is Sam."

"Okay John can you please tell me where your location is."

"We're at G.A.R. Woods. We–"

"Oh, my lord John," I could hear a woman's voice scream. "She's still alive!"

"Good god! You need to send an ambulance. The woman's still alive."

I looked over at Dawn with wide eyes. She only looked at me for a second before she started talking on her headset. I knew she was talking to whoever she was sending out there, before she started talking to whoever was running the ambulance barn. I just needed to stay on the line with John until everyone got there."

"I've got a squad car, and ambulance on the way," I informed the man. "They will be there as soon as they can. Is the woman conscious?"

"She was for a few seconds," John admitted, "but she just passed out again."

"I'm going to need your wife to try to get her awake again. We need to keep her awake. I'm ask going to need to you to describe her injuries."

"The woman on the phone said you need to try to wake her up Sam."

His wife started talking but I couldn't hear what she was saying. Hopefully she was trying to get the woman to wake up. I, instead, waited for the man to tell me what he saw was wrong with the woman. The first responders needed to know what they were getting into.

"I can't really tell," John confessed, anxiety laced in his voice. "There seems to be a bruise on her throat, and her clothes are torn and covered in blood. Her fingers are bruised… in fact it seems she's covered in them."

Typing almost everything that was being side into my report, I couldn't shake the feeling there was something more to this than just one woman. It was just something I couldn't explain; it was just a feeling in the back of my mind. This feeling was bugging me and there was nothing I could do about it. I needed to know more; maybe that's what was wrong. I wasn't getting all the facts.

"Can you describe her for me?" I asked.

All of this was happening in a matter of minutes, but it felt like it was taking forever. At least it was for me; I couldn't imagine what it was like for John and his wife. You didn't find a barely a live woman in the woods every day, and I'm sure this would haunt them for a long time to come.

"Uhhh, okay," John mumbled. "She's maybe in her early to mid-twenties, petite, and she has red hair."

I hesitated for a few seconds. My first thought was she looked like me, but I put that in the back of my mind. I didn't want to think about that now. Shaking my head, I went back to typing.

"Thank you," I said. "Does she have anything around her saying who she might be; a purse, or wallet, something like that?"

"I looked but I'm sorry I see nothing," the man confessed.

"That's fine, John. Thank you for looking. Is the woman still with us?"

"She's going in and out of consciousness."

Putting what exactly what Dawn was looking up, I could see she sent an ambulance and a couple squad cars. Kim and Roman just happened to be one of them. I trusted them more than I trusted anyone out there. It maybe just because they work close with my brother, or it could be Kim and I were really good friends. Either way I would feel safe knowing they were on their way.

"Just try to keep her awake," I told him. "The squad cars are almost there, and the ambulance isn't far behind. Just stay on the line with me until they get there, alright."

John and I talked for about five more minutes; all and all the call took about fifteen minutes, but it felt like it took an hour or longer. Mostly I asked about the woman and if she was still conscious or not. Once I heard the sirens over the phone and he told me they were there, we hung up.

I had to take a few more minutes to sit and collect myself. Dawn was more than find with that and let me sit in my chair as long as I needed. For the rest of my shift I was distracted. I tried to focus on the called I got, but it took a lot of effort on my part. Something in the back of my mind was pulling me toward that crime scene, and I knew once I was off work, I was going to be there whether I was supposed to be there or not.


	16. Chapter 15

_**Hello my lovely readers,**_

 _ **I know it's been a while so let's jump into it, shall we!**_

 _ **First of all, 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **post of 2019! Yay!**_

 _ **Second, we have hit 100 followers and 66 favorites!**_

 _ **Third of all, I would like to apologize for taking so long to post this chapter. I had writers block and I didn't have any motivation to write. I would write a little and then lose interest. So, today (2/21/19) I sat down and decided I needed to get this chapter done. To be honest I think the reason I had so much trouble was because it was more of a filler than anything.**_

 _ **Another reason I think I had problems was I didn't get many reviews as I would have liked. Like I have said before it makes things easier for me to write when I know my readers are enjoying what they're reading and want to see more. So, to the people who are commenting and review, thank you, it really means a lot.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy this chapter and again I am sorry it took me so long to get it out there.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **M.**_

 _ **Chapter 15.**_

 _ **Bodies**_

I didn't remember the drive to G.A.R Woods; all I did remember was thinking I needed to get to the woods. Why I needed to get there? I had no idea, I knew I wasn't going to be able to help. It wasn't my job to get in the middle of recovering victims. I was the person who sent the first responders to the scene. It was my mind was telling me I had to get there as fast as I could. I decided not to argue or second guess myself.

When I arrived, everything was in complete, organized chaos. There were at least five squad cars, and a fire truck. My brother's team was here, because I could see Erin talking to Kim. The one vehicle I didn't see was the ambulance. In its place was the coroners' vans and there was a single thought running through my mind: she didn't make it. The young woman who fought to live didn't make it to tell someone, who done this to her.

Letting it sink in, I knew I needed answers to what had happened. There was only person who would give me answers and I was going to find him. I glanced around the scene in front of me and soon found who I was looking for. Taking a step forward to make my way toward Voight, I was caught off guard a muscular body. I glanced up to find my brother staring down at me. He looked very surprised to see me.

"What are you doing here Roe?" he asked. "You don't need to be here.

Before I knew what was going on, Adam turned me around, put a hand on my back started, and pushing me towards my truck. This wasn't going to work on me, so I dug my heels into the ground and stopped. When my brother turned around to look at me he was glaring and I matched it with everything I had.

"I had to see what was going on," I answered, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Why?" he questioned.

"Because I was the one who got the call. I needed to see this for myself."

"Sis, I don't think you should be down here. This is a crime scene."

"I don't care if it's Molly's. I need to know what's going on."

"Why?"

I hesitated for a few seconds not knowing what to even say to answer his question. To be honest, I didn't have a clue why I was here to begin with. There was just something that told me, I needed to be at this spot at that very moment. It was hard to explain; hard enough to where I couldn't even explain it to myself. So, with that said, how was I going to describe it to other people to make them understand? I definitely couldn't say it in a way to make my brother see it from my side. What was I going to do?

Thankfully, I wasn't going to have to think of anything because someone called my name. Looking in the direction the voice came from I saw Kim and Erin walking toward me and Adam. They looked just as confused as my brother and I couldn't really blame them. I had never showed up at a crime scene before. I was just full of surprises, I guess.

Giving them a small smile as they walked up, I didn't like the expressions on their faces. Besides the confused looks upon seeing me, I could see something else shining in their eyes. Sadly, I hadn't been around my friends long enough to decipher these emotions. They seemed happy enough to see me, but there was something they didn't want to tell me. I could tell that for sure.

"What are you doing here Mo?" Kim asked.

"I don't really know," I confessed. "I was the one who got to call and there was just something about it. I needed to see what was going on. How's the girl?"

"We don't know," Erin answered. "The ambulance took her to Med. We won't know anything for a while."

"What happened to her? I heard she was covered in bruises and blood."

"You know we can't tell you that Roe," Adam chimed in.

"Can't blame a girl for trying."

I glanced around the scene around me. There were so many things going on at once, it was hard to keep my eyes on it all. The one thing that caught my eye were the dogs running around with their handlers. There were only two reason why there would be K9s around. I just hoped what I was about to ask was the reason why they were here.

"Was the person who did this to her here recently?" I asked. "Is that the dogs are here?"

The three people in front of me shared a look with one another and I knew I was wrong. So, the young woman wasn't the only victim of this animal… there were more. The only question that needed to be asked now was, how many more were there?

"Yes and no Mo," Erin muttered. "At first that's why the K9s were here, but…"

"But soon there were more bodies," I finished. "They were looking for the man who tried to kill the woman because she hadn't been there that long."

No one continued on to what I already knew. I put my hands up to my temples and started to rub them. Taking deep breaths in and out, I started to pace back and forth. So many things were going on at once and none of them I could control. What was going to happen next, and would it be the thing to make me go insane?

"How many more are there?" I asked.

I stopped my pacing to look at my brother and friends. None of them looked like they wanted to tell me but that wasn't going to fly. For one reason or another I needed to know how many woman this person had killed so far. At the thought of everything going on there was a sinking feeling in my stomach and I just couldn't shake it. I gave the three of them a few more seconds to answer, but still none of them said a word. By this time I was losing my patience; I knew there were things they couldn't tell me and I respected that, but this was getting ridiculous.

"How many more are there?" I repeated angrily. "I want to know."

"They've found five so far," Adam finally confessed. "They're still searching."

"All of them women?"

"Yes," Kim mumbled.

So, there were five women out here who died a horrible death. They were alone when they were murdered by a monster who didn't care if their family or friends knew what had happened to them. I knew this happened all the time. It was part of human nature; sick people did sick things. Just because I knew it happened didn't mean I understood it. Before I could think any more of it my brother started being a pain in the ass.

"Okay you've got your information," he said, "now it's time for you to go."

"I need to know more," I snapped.

"No, you don't… Listen Roe, I need you to leave. I can't be worried about you being here and seeing things you don't need to see, while working this case."

"You may be my brother but you're not my boss."

"Adam," Erin chimed in, before my brother could answer, "I think Voight wanted to talk to you."

Everyone followed Erin's line of vision and she wasn't wrong. Voight was staring right at my brother; when he saw Adam was staring back he motioned for him to come over. Adam nodded and then turned his attention back to me.

"I want you to go home now," he ordered. "Kim… Erin, will you please escort my sister to her truck and make sure she gets home safe."

"Sure thing Ruzek," Erin agreed.

"No problem," Kim said.

Adam shot one more glare in my direction before turning around and walked away. Like a child, I stuck my tongue out at his retreating form. Yeah, it was childish, but I did it a lot when he tried to boss me around.

Sighing I turned my attention back to Erin and Kim. Even though the situation was grim they still had a smile on their face at my childish gesture towards my brother. They didn't get to see us like that very often but they did enjoy it when it happened. I guess it showed we loved each other and that we didn't let much get between us. Sadly, right now, there was something between us – something big – and her name was Wendy.

Without a word the detective and cop started leading me back to the vehicle that brought me here. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts to really fight them, but when we got to my truck I wasn't in a hurry to climb inside. I turned and faced the women who were making sure I left. There were still so many questions I wanted answers to, but I couldn't stop my mind from spinning to pick one.

"Everything okay, Mo?" Kim asked.

"I just don't understand who could do something like this," I confessed. "I've been working as a Dispatcher for a while now and I've never seen what happens after I hang up with a caller. I never get to see what goes on when you guys show up."

"I'll admit it's a lot to take in," Erin stated.

I looked in her direction because her voice was off. It was kind of like she was accusing me of something without saying anything. This was new for Erin and I knew she was a detective – it was her job to be this suspicious – but I could still feel my anger start to rise because I knew what was coming next. She and I had been friends for a few years now and here so was being suspicious of me.

"Is there something you want to ask me Erin?" I questioned.

"As a matter of fact, I do Monroe," Erin said bluntly. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I already told you I needed to see what was going on for myself."

"I'm finding that hard to believe. Do you have anything to do with this?"

"I can't _believe_ you even asked me that. You know me."

"Has anyone at the department said anything to you about this?"

"You seem to have forgotten I'm a Dispatcher. I only know what I hear from the person who called this in."

Beyond pissed at this point, I crossed my arms over my chest, so Kim and Erin couldn't see my hands were clenched into fists. All my understanding of Erin being Erin was out of my thoughts and the two of us were having a stare off; neither of us wanting to look away from the other. There was no reason for her to be acting like this. She had to know something she wasn't telling me.

A few more minutes of staring and silence later the female detective opened her mouth to say something. Kim – who was usually the peace-maker – got into her line of vision. A small innocent smile was placed of her face.

"Hey Erin," she said, "I think Atwater is trying to get your attention."

Detective Lindsey didn't even look to see if the female cop was telling the truth. She turned around and walked away, leaving me fuming with anger behind her. Once Kim knew Erin wasn't going to be coming back, she turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry about that Mo," she apologized. "I know it's just the beginning but it's a hard case of all of us."

"I can understand that," I agreed, "but she didn't need to act like I was the one who did this. I mean, how could I? I was at work the whole time this was going on."

"She knows that, but you know her. She has to run every angle no matter who it is."

"Yea."

The two of us sat there for a few minutes in silence. I could feel the anger slowly run its course through my system. By the time it was gone I was drain and tired from everything that had gone on that day. I let out a sigh of frustration and closed my eyes.

"Feeling better?" Kim asked.

"Much," I muttered, opening my eyes to look at her. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Like I said, it's been a long day for all of us."

"Doesn't make it right for me to act the way I did."

"Don't worry about it. How about we go to Molly's tonight? Get a few drinks and some dinner."

A small smile spread across my face. I hadn't been out with just Kim in a long time and I knew it was over-do; I think she did too, by the hope shining in her eyes.

"After the day I've had," I sighed, "I will take you up on that offer."

"Great!" she exclaimed, happily. "I'll pick you up after my shift, around six… We'll get ready at your place?"

"No problem."

"Ok. Now get home. Your brother won't be happy if you stay here another minute."

She was right of course, because I could feel him staring in our direction. When I glanced his way, he was glaring daggers at me as he tried to pay attention Al. I rolled my eyes and gave Kim a hug before jumping into my truck. She waved at me and told me to be careful. I told her I would as I drove off.

My mind was racing as I made my way back to my apartment. Everything made sense… but didn't at the same time, and I didn't know what to think about it. I just didn't want to think about anything anymore as a headache started sink in.

I was at my place before I knew it. As I walked inside I knew I needed to get some sleep, but my body was still full of adrenaline so catching a few Z's wasn't going to happen. Taking a look around the apartment I decided it was probably to start cleaning it before Kim got here. I had nothing else better to do. So, I cranked up the stereo and got busy, hoping everything would go right tonight, for once in a very long time.


	17. Chapter 16

_**Hello everyone,**_

 _ **I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. Please don't hurt me. There were a few comments (none of them bad, I promise) that made it hard for me to get the motivation to write anything. Hopefully the motivation I have now will help me continue to write faster. If not please bear with me. Plus, I've been working and it kind of puts a damper on the writing because I'm tired when I get home. I try to at least do a little every night.**_

 _ **Now I would like to hear more from you lovely readers. This is another thing that has made it hard for me to get the motivation to write. If you could please say more than just please update, or I really like this chapter update soon, that would be great. Let me know what you want to see. Give me some ideas you think would make the story better. Maybe then I can get keep the motivation to type.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy this chapter. I wanted it to be just right considering it took me so long to update. Please review and comment. If you're new to this story please favorite and follow.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **-M**_

 ** _Chapter 16._**

 ** _A Needed Night Out_**

The whole way home my mind kept going back to the murder scene. No matter how many times I seemed to push it out of my mind it would return; it was driving me beyond crazy. I couldn't help but wonder how many bodies would show up and how long they had been there. Were they random or did they have a purpose for something? What had happened to them before they were laid to rest somewhere someone may not find them? Who would do such a thing so another human being?

I had heard the worst of the worst in my many years as a dispatcher – men rapping little kids, women killing their babies in the bathtub, gang members murdering and remembering the bodies to get rid of them, children walking in on a loved one after they committed suicide, etc. This had to be in my top ten. I've heard of body dumps many times and most bodies being buried in the same stop, but I had a feeling this was going to be the worst one in Chicago history. If it's doesn't end up being the worst then I will be surprised.

After pulling up to my apartment, I turned off the truck, and sat in the silence. Putting my face in my hands, I let out a heavy sigh. My life has been close to hell since I found out I had a stalker. More often than not I was stressed and looking over my shoulder, and now I knew about a serial killer running free out there; it was all starting to be too much. Sadly, there wasn't anything I could do about it. I was going to have to take things as they came.

Taking my face out of my hands I grabbed my things and opened my truck door. Hopping out of the vehicle, I walked to my building and went inside. I made sure my truck was locked and then I closed the door behind me. The elevator was out of order, so I had to use the stairs, which I didn't mind.

Once I got into the apartment I locked the door behind me, kicking off my shoes as I did so. I could feel the work day and everything else slowly creeping up on me, and I felt ran down. I made my way to my bedroom so I could change into some comfy clothes, and then hopped into bed. I knew I had enough time to take a quick nap. It didn't take for the exhaustion to set in, and I was out like a light.

 **~J &M~**

About two hours later I flew up into a sitting position, in a cold sweat. My breath was heavy and I had tears running down my face. I had woken up from a nightmare, and I took me a while to get out of it. My body was shaking like crazy, and my heart was racing. I had woken up like this a lot from same nightmare still swam through my brain and it was hard to shake.

I was running as fast as I could to get away from him, but it wasn't enough. He grabbed me and through me down on the ground, jumping on top of me. His face was angry and he wouldn't stop hitting me, no matter how many times I told him to stop. When he got tired of hitting me he started stabbing me; not enough to kill me, just enough to cause so much pain. After he left I had felt plenty of pain I watched as he grabbed my gun, pointed it at me and then pulled the trigger.

Still sitting in bed, I told myself to calm down; it took me a good five minutes, letting my breathing return to normal and my heart slowed down. I ran a hand threw my hair and breathed a sigh of relief. The dream still felt real and I didn't know how to make them stop. This nightmare was a common one for me and it was one of the worst. I always ended up dying in the end no matter how hard I fought to get away.

When I felt like I was fine I got up, and took a shower, thinking it was better to get it out of the way, so I wouldn't have to take one when Kim showed up. Once I was done, I went into the living room and sat on the couch to wait for the female cop. I didn't turn on the T.V.; I just stared straight ahead and let my mind wonder. Were these dreams ever going to stop? Did they mean anything? Or was I just way too paranoid? No matter how much I thought I still couldn't come up with any answers. Maybe I wasn't meant too.

I don't know how long I sat there in my own thoughts, but I was brought out of them when the doorbell rang. Getting up and walking to the door, I made sure to look through the peephole, and then opened it and letting Kim in.

"Hey Mo," she greeted, holding a duffle bag in one hand and her keys in the another.

"Hey girl," I said, with a smile. "How was the rest of your shift?"

"It was pretty good, but you know how slow the last hour seems to go."

"Oh, don't I know it. Sometimes I want to kill myself because the minute hand never seems to move."

"Got that right."

She started walking down the hall to the living room, with me behind her and sat down on the couch; I took a seat in the recliner facing Kim. She leaned back against the couch, closed her eyes, and let out an exasperated sigh. I could tell she was exhausted and I didn't blame her. After all the excitement of the today I was pretty tired myself, even after my nightmarish nap.

It was silent for a while and I watched as she slowly relaxed. It had definitely been a long day and I was looking forward to the girls' night we had planned tonight. Considering I didn't have to work until three o'clock the next day everything was going to work out. There was just one thing I needed to know before I got into the "carefree Mo" mindset.

"How many did they find so far?" I blurted.

The tension returned as soon as the words left my mouth. I felt bad but I really needed to know what the call I answered today led to. If I didn't it was going to bug me to no end.

"You know I can't tell you that," she said, with his eyes closed.

"Can you at least give me a hint?" I asked.

"What do you think?"

She was right; I knew the answer. Even though I had taken the call I didn't have the right to know what was going on. The only people who did were the people working the case and the cops helping them. I was neither of those people so I didn't get to know all the details. It took me a few days to know what happened to the call about the little girl and her sister after her mom was almost killed by the father. I found out when everyone else did and that was just the way it was.

"Can you at least tell me how long they've been there?" I questioned.

"I can't," she muttered, opening her eyes and looking at me. "You know this."

"Yea I know. You can't blame a girl for trying though."

Thinking about it for a minute, she finally agreed, and we laughed. We both know she wanted to tell me, she knew I was curious about what happened in those woods, but she couldn't tell me no matter how much she wanted too.

"Well," I sighed, after we were done laughing, "I guess it's time we get dressed. Do you want to take my bathroom or the hallway one?"

"You have all your stuff in your bathroom," Kim stated. "How about I just take the hallway."

"Sounds good."

We got up and went to our designated rooms, and started getting ready. I decided to wear a red sleeveless shirt the matched my hair and tight black jeans. When it came to shoes I stuck with my black flip flops and called it good. For earrings, I got what looked like red, dangly rose buds, with a matching necklace. My make-up was simple, with a red eye shadow, eyeliner and mascara; I added a light blush on my cheeks.

Once I was dressed, I looked in the mirror at my hair; when it dried fairly nice, and in the right way with the curls so I just decided to leave it. When I was done, I walked out of the bathroom and back out to the living room. Kim wasn't finished getting ready so I sat back down in the recliner to wait. It seemed like forever when Kim finally walked out.

She was wearing a dark green shirt, with flowing sleeves. Her pants were black and her makeup was gray; it made her eyes look darker. She looked amazing and there were going be a lot of eyes on her tonight.

"Wow Kim," I whistled, "you look great."

"Thank you," she smiled. "You looked great yourself."

"Thanks. You ready to head out?"

"Yep."

"I just have to grab my purse and we'll be set."

I went back to my room to grab my red purse, and walked back out to meet Kim out the door. She had her duffle back in hand; I had thought about asking her if she wanted to spend the night – I'd let her have my room and I'd take the couch – but I knew she had to work early tomorrow afternoon, and she wouldn't want to wake me.

When she saw me coming in her direction, she opened the and walked out. I followed behind her, locking the door once I was through the threshold. We decided it was a good idea for her to drive so all she had to do was drop me off and then head home. We jumped into her car and we were off to Molly's.

 **~J &M~**

We got to the bar a little early, but considering it was a Friday night it wasn't going to be very long until Molly's was packed. Kim and I made a beeline for the bar and ordered our drinks – her a screwdriver and me a rum and coke. Not long after our drinks were given to us Erin walked through the doors. I still wasn't very happy with the way act towards me today, but before I could say anything to her, she apologized for her behavior. She told me it was just the way the case looked… it scared her. My friend didn't have to tell me why it did, because I already knew it was the same way it scared me. We hugged and decided it was time to have fun after the day we had all had.

A few hours later Molly's started to fill up and the music started to play. Kim and Erin danced, but I stood back and watched – even though they had asked me join them many times. The time I had danced with Jay ruined it for me, but I was more than happy to see the fun the two women were having without me.

The three of us drank and talked, and it was more fun than I had in a long time. There were only three things that could ruin it and one of them tapped my shoulder just as I was about to take a drink of my fourth rum and coke. I stiffened with a felt finger touch my bare skin. When I turned around, Jay was standing in front on me with an apologetic expression on his face.

I had to admit he looked good with his black button up shirt and fitted jeans. Just like always I could get lost in his intense blue eyes but I wasn't going to listen to what he had to say. It was just going to cause me problems and I couldn't risk it. I instantly glared at him and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Hi," he muttered.

The look on his face changed from apologetic to unsure; probably because of my glare and body language. I still hadn't forgiven him for what he had done, and he could tell.

"What do you want Jay?" I growled.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," he confessed.

"I'm doing fine, thank you. Now you may go."

"I also was wondering if you wanted to dance."

I was about to turn away from him, but his words stopped me, and I shot another glare in his direction. Did he really think I going to have him touch me after what he had done? If he did he was dumber than he looked.

"I think you already know the answer to your question," I told him.

"Just dance with me," he begged, "and I'll explain everything."

"There's nothing to explain. Just go away Jay, and leave me alone."

"Grace please…"

"Don't call me Grace! My name is Monroe! How many times to have to tell you that? Now leave!"

Turning around, I did my best to ignore. I could feel him standing behind me for a few more seconds before walking off. I let out a sigh of frustration and brought my attention to my two friends. They were both looking at me funny, with smiles on their faces.

"What?" I snapped.

"What was that all about?" Erin asked.

"Nothin'."

"It didn't look like nothin'." Kim stated.

"It looks like Halstead was trying really hard to get your attention," Erin smirked playfully. "He usually doesn't act like that. I would know because I'm his partner. I work with him every day."

"Well he has his shot and then he ruined it. Not my fault he had to be a dumbass and listen to my equally dumbass brother."

I watched as both of their mouths dropped open. Evidently, I didn't tell them about everything that has been happening. The past few months had been so crazy, I guess it slipped my mind.

"What happened there?" Kim questioned.

"Jay and I hung out once," I confessed, and their eyes got the size of saucers, "and Adam didn't like it so he told Jay to stay away from me. Like an idiot, he listened to my brother. That's it."

"And you didn't think about telling us?" Erin exclaimed.

"We're your best friends!" Kim added. "How could you hold this from us?"

"I had a lot going on," I muttered.

They both opened their mouths to say something but I cut them off by holding my hand up. This was just ridiculous. I was getting a stress headache and it was annoying.

"Can we just drink and have fun?" I begged. "That's why I came here. This is one of the many thing I've wanted to forget. It doesn't help Jay is here. Just please leave it be."

The two women looked at each other for a second and then shrugged their shoulders, before turning their attention back to me. I could feel myself relax a little and figured we could enjoy ourselves now. I didn't know then how really wrong I was.

 **~J &M~**

About an hour later Jay came around again. He didn't say anything to me but I could feel his eyes on me. When I would look around to see him, there he was staring at me. He'd smile at me and try to keep my eyes on him, but I just rolled my eyes and went to talking with Kim and Erin. For some reason, it didn't creep me out like when other men stared at me. It made me feel… protected in a way. I had a feeling if it all came down to it Jay wouldn't let anything hurt me. Of course, I didn't like the feeling, but it did bring me some piece of mind he was there watching over me.

When they would see me staring back at him they'd just smile. I waited for them to say something, but they never did. They probably knew I would walk out of the bar if they did.

By the second hour of feeling Jay watched me, he finally decided to try his luck on me again. I saw him coming this time and groaned loudly. Why couldn't I have had a quiet evening?

"What's wrong?" Erin asked.

"Let me guess," Kim smirked, "Jays' on his way over again."

"Good guess," I muttered as he got closer.

Kim and Erin turned around as soon as the words left my mouth and their popped open. By the shocked expressions on their faces they probably thought he'd take a hint and leave me alone. Even though they worked with him, but I guess they didn't know him as well as they thought they did.

The expression on Jay's face was nothing but determination. I didn't know how I felt about that – I did feel confused for sure – but I was going to try my best to stand my ground. So, crossing my arms over my chest, I waited for him to get here and tell us what he wanted.

"Hi," he said again, when he reached us.

He put his best smile on his face and I almost gave in. This was the smile I could always returned. I wanted to return it now, but there was always that nagging voice in my head telling me what he did. It just wasn't something I could forgive so easily and I didn't understand why he couldn't take a hint. I had to hand it to him thought, he was a persistent man this was for certain. Once again, I didn't know how I felt about it.

"What do you want Jay?" I sighed.

"I just want one dance," he confessed.

"I've told you once I'm not going to dance with you."

"I'll keep bugging you for one."

"It's a good thing I'm leaving soon."

He opened his mouth but didn't get to say anything, because Erin grabbed me by the arm without warning, and pushed me towards him. I almost fell, thank god Jay was there to catch me. When we both figured, I was balanced I turned around and glared at the woman who put me in this predicament. She was smirking and so was Kim. Erin shrugged his shoulders.

"One dance isn't going to hurt you," she muttered. "Just dance with him. Maybe if you do, it'll make him leave you alone."

"But–" I muttered.

"I'll take it," Jay said excitedly.

Before I knew it, he grabbed me by the hand and lead me to the dance floor. When we got there, he turns around and pulls me close; I didn't even have the time to think about protesting. Just like he did the last time he kept a hold of my right hand and put his free one my lower back; keeping me in place. I have no choice but to put my free hand on his shoulder. Then we started moving.

Once I had my bearings I looked up at him. He was smiling down at me softly, as he leads us around in a circle to the beat of _Mercy_ by Brett Young. Like always, I couldn't take my eyes off of his, and it seemed like he couldn't take his off mine. There was just something there between us and I couldn't deny it any longer. Of course, I wasn't going to admit this to him… not yet anyway.

The electric current was still there in every place he touched me. I didn't know if it was just me, or if he could feel it too. As I stared into his lightly blue eyes, I couldn't help but get lost in them. It's something I had become used to but hadn't realized till this moment. There were a lot of things that had changed over the last few months and the thought of them scared me, but somehow, I felt safe when I was around this man. Something I hadn't felt in a very long time.

"I have some things to explain," Jay said, breaking the silence between us.

"What if I don't want to hear them?" I grumbled.

"That's too bad, because you're going to hear it anyway. You kind of don't have a choice right now."

I was kind of taken back by the gentle authority in his voice. This was never a tone I heard before from him. It made me speechless because I really didn't know what to say to this.

"You have to understand," he began, when he knew I wasn't going to interrupt him, "for years I was a soldier and I had to do what I was told. If I didn't there were consequences to the orders that were broken."

This made sense and I understood what happened when orders or rules were broken. There were many times when I got in trouble for breaking rules; sadly, there were times where I hadn't done anything wrong and I was punished. But no matter how he explains his actions, it didn't condone what he had done.

"Jay–" I sighed.

"No," he interrupted. "You're going to listen to me. I need you to hear me out."

He waited for a few seconds to see if I would let him continue. When I didn't he let out a sigh of relief. This really meant a lot to him, but I didn't see why – it wasn't like I was anything special.

"It was pushed into my head," he started again, "I had to protect the innocent with everything I had. So, when your brother demanded I stay away from you because it was for your own good, I thought he was right. It didn't mean I felt right about it, but I cared about you enough to protect you. Even if it meant I had to stay away from you to do it."

The music changed to a different song – _Make You Miss Me_ by Sam Hunt – as his words sank in. It made sense he acted the way he did, because he had been an Army Ranger for so many years. He did have a good point, but I still couldn't forgive him considering how much he hurt me. I trusted him, but he ruined it when he decided to listen to my brother. He had good reasoning yes, but the way he handled it was wrong.

"I know it doesn't excuse what I did to you," Jay continued, as he saw the wheels turning into my head. "I should have come to you first to talk it over with you. I mean you're a grown adult and you can make decisions your brother shouldn't, but the way he explained everything it made sense to me then."

"And now?" I asked, before I could stop myself.

"Now I think, even though it seemed like the right choice to make then, it was the completely wrong one to make. If I could go back in time and take it all back I would. Considering I can't I just wish you could give me one more chance."

I could see he was begging me with his eyes, and I wanted to give him the answer he was hoping for. Sadly, I just couldn't bring myself to forgive him what he did. If he was will to cut ties between us to protect me, what would stop him from doing it again, if it came down to it? I couldn't risk getting hurt again. Even though we didn't know each other very well I still felt something when I was around him, and it hurt that he just walked all over those feelings.

Jay must have seen the answer on my face because he jumped in before I could form a sentence in my head.

"You don't have to answer me right away," he stated. "Just give me time to prove to you that I'm not going to do what I did again. I like being around you and I'd like to hang out with you again. Please, just give me time to show you."

I looked his face up and down; looking for any signs that he was lying. Unlike the night I confronted him about what he did, he looked me straight in the eyes and I could see he meant what he was telling me. This man wasn't like most of the men that has come in and out of my life. He did deserve at least a little time to show me he had changed.

"Okay," I muttered.

"Okay what?" he questioned.

"I'll give you the chance to show me what you did was a mistake."

"Really?"

"Yes really. Everyone deserves another small chance."

The expression on his face was the cutest thing I had ever seen. He was so excited it wasn't even funny. I felt him pull me closer and I laid my head on his shoulder as he continued to lead me around in circles. Even when the songs changed – to slow to lively – he didn't let me go.

 **~J &M~**

A few hours later I was sitting at a table with Kim, Erin, and Jay; drinking and laughing. Jay and I were sitting across from the girls, and seemed like it didn't matter what sitting position we were in somehow, we were touching in some way. It didn't start to bother me until I felt someone watching me. That's when I started to look around. Sadly, I couldn't see anyone I knew looking in my direction.

"Are you okay Grace?" Jay asked.

I looked back at my companions and say they were all staring back at me. They looked concerned and I tried to give them a reassuring smile, but it fell short. There was something wrong with this place now and hadn't been there a when I showed up.

"I'm fine," I told them. "I'm just tired I think. I think it's time for me to go home."

"I can take you," Jay smiled.

"Are you sure?" Kim asked. "I don't mind taking her back home."

"No, it's fine," I said. "Jay can take me home. You can stay a little longer if you want. I'm sure Erin could use the company."

The women both nodded agreeing to my decision. We hugged and said our goodbyes, before I grabbed my purse and followed Jay out of the building. He led me to his Mustang and opened my door. I smiled at him as I slid into the passenger seat. I waited as he walked around the car and took his seat beside me. He was about to start his car when he remembers something.

"You know," he said, staring at me, "I never gave you back your gun."

"No, you haven't," I agreed with a laugh.

He positioned himself so he was leaning into his backseat. When he straightens up he had my Berretta in his hand. My smile got wider as my eyes took it in. I hadn't seen or held this gun in what felt like forever. Jay set the Berretta in my lap and then turned on his car. I watched as he pulled out into the empty lane and we were off.

We were quiet the whole way to my apartment, but it was an enjoyable silence. Half way there, Jay put his hand on my knee and I didn't flinch away. It was a nice feeling having him touch me; I defiantly wasn't going to tell him to stop. Too soon for my liking, we pulled up to my home, and he parked his car.

"Do you want me to walk you up?" he asked.

"You don't have to," I shrugged, putting my gun into my purse.

"It's not that I have too. I'd like to walk you up."

"I don't mind."

"Okay. Stay here."

Jay turned off his car and got out. I watched him walk around the car – not believing we were actually talking again. He opened my door, took my hand, and helped me out. I didn't let go of his hand once I was out and the door was closed, and it seemed he didn't want me to. When we got into the building we toot he stairs considering the elevator was still out of order, and we slowly walked in silence. It was nice to be in his company and I don't know how I went so long without it.

Once we were out my door, I turned around to look at him, not letting go of his hand. I could still feel the electric current where he was touching me, and it had spread throughout my whole body. Jay had a small smile on his face, but it was a content one. I returned the smile looking down at our hands. I really didn't want him to go, but I wasn't going to invite him either. Right now, wasn't the time.

"Thank you for driving me home," I whispered.

"It's no problem at all Grace," he mumbled.

"Why do you insist on calling me that?"

"I've told you before. Everyone has certain nicknames for you. I wanted to give you something different… something special."

"I'm pretty sure you could have come up with something different."

"I could have, but none of them was as special as Grace."

I rolled my eyes at him, but kept the smile on my face anyway. We stared at each other a little while longer. The more I stood there the more I wanted him to come into my home with me, but I knew that wasn't a good idea.

"I have to go," I sighed.

"I know," he agreed.

"I don't want to though."

"I don't want you to either, but right now isn't the time for me to come in. It's late and you should sleep."

He was right. I had to work late in the afternoon and I was going to be dragging now as it was, but I didn't want him to leave. Before I could open my mouth to say something I shouldn't, head leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. I could feel warmth spread throughout my body starting where his skin touched mine.

His lips lingered on my cheek a little long than he should have, but I didn't mind. This feeling was so much different than when Clay had kissed my cheek, and I would take the way this felt over that any day. I wanted him to stay even more know.

Jay pulled away too soon for my liking. He had a smile on his face and I couldn't help but return it again.

"I'll text you soon," he promised. "Sleep well."

"You too," I breathed.

"Good night Grace."

"Night Jay."

I felt him let go of my hand but I couldn't stop watching him leave. When he went got to the stairway he turned around to give me one more smile and then made his way through the door.

Biting my lip to hide my own smile I unlocked my door and walked into my apartment. It was dark in my home so I slowly walked down the hallway to the living room. I hadn't been in the room for a second when I heard someone moving around... Then they started talking and my blood ran cold.

"Nice of you to finally join me, Pretty Girl," the low voice growled.

A light was turned on, blinding me for a few seconds. When my eyes adjusted, I saw Clay sitting in my recliner. He looked very angry as he stared at me. My eyes widen as I watched him stand up.

I had been having so much fun tonight that I had completely forgot about this man, and I knew that was the worst thing I had could have done with someone like him following me around. So, it wasn't just me being paranoid at the bar tonight. He was really watching me.

"You have no idea how much trouble you're in right now," he muttered.

I think I did and I took a step back as he took one toward me. Just by looking into his eyes I knew this wasn't going to end very well, and I had no idea how I was going to get out of this one.


	18. Chapter 17

_**Hello readers,**_

 _ **Here is Chapter 17. There isn't much going on in this chapter, but I hope you like it. I want to thank everyone who have commented. It makes me want to write more, hence why I was able to get this chapter written and posted. I hope you continue to comment and review. I hope new readers will start comment and review. Again, it helps so much if you do.**_

 _ **Considering so many people have commented and it only took me a week to get this chapter out, I guess I won't keep you from reading any longer. Hope you enjoy. Please keep commenting and reviewing.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **-M**_

 ** _Chapter 17._**

 ** _Confession_**

I don't remember a lot of what happened; most of it was just a blur. I did remember I had my gun and tried to get it out of my purse, but sadly I wasn't fast enough. He grabbed it before I could even unzip the zipper. Once he had it he threw it as far away from us as he could. It wasn't a second later he smacked me across the face and I fell to the ground. That's when the beating started. I didn't know how long he hit me, and I tried to fight him off, until he beat me so bad I started going in and out of conscious. The pain was more than enough to make me wish I wasn't here.

The last thing I remember before he left was his hot breath on my face. He was gently rubbing his knuckles on my face. I was in too much pain to move away from his touch.

"I told you something bad was going to happen," Clay informed me. "You just wouldn't listen. You better come up with a good lie to explain what happened to you. It could be worse if you tell someone. It'll be them if you talk. I hope you learned your lesson… Stay out of trouble."

Then I lost conscious again. Again, I didn't know how long I was out, but when I become semiconscious I heard my brother calling my name. It sounded like it was coming from far away, and I tried my hardest to push through the darkness towards his voice.

"Monroe!" he yelled. "Monroe, please wake up. The bus is on its way. You have to wake up for me please."

"Adam," I groaned.

My head felt heavy, but I was able to slowly open my eyes just enough to see my brother looking over me. There he was gazing down at me with a very worried expression on his face. He looked like he was on the verge of tears as he held me in his arms. It wasn't long before I felt myself being pulled back into unconscious, with him yelling my name as I feel.

 **~J &M~**

From there I don't remember much, besides darkness. I became conscious enough during the ambulance ride, the EMTs pushing me through the emergency room, and a few times while I was in my room. Other than that, the dark pools of a dreamless sleep pulled me under again, and again.

I don't know how long I was out; a few days, maybe, was my guess. When I did start to come to everything hurt. My ribs, my head, my back, etc., and I couldn't pinpoint which hurt worse. At first I had no idea where I was or how I had gotten there.

Slowly I started to hear the beeping sound of a heart monitor. The sound gave away that I was probably in the hospital. It took me a few more seconds to remember why I was there. Then it clicked and I started to recalled what my last memories were before I passed out.

It started with a girls' night with Erin and Kim after the long day we all had. Jay showing up, asking me to forgive him and also to dance, but I turned him down. Him watching me, and then coming back a second time to try for another dance. Erin pushing me towards him, and Jay dragging me to the dance floor. How I felt so protected in his arms after giving him a second chance. Then feeling paranoid that someone was watching me, and all my friends looking worried, but I told them I was just tired. Jay driving me home, and kissing me on the cheek. Him leaving and me going into my apartment to find Clay waiting for me, and then him beating for what felt like hours.

All of the night's events came flying back to me and sound of the heart monitor got faster. My eyes flew open, and flew into a sitting position. The fast motion made my body scream in pain, which made me fall back onto the bed. I closed my eyes tight, and bit my tongue to stop a cry from making its way past my lips. My arms wrapped around my arms around myself, trying to make the pain stop. Everything hurt, and I mean everything. It felt like I got hit by a bus, and I didn't know how to make it stop.

"Monroe?" someone said, near my bed. "Are you okay?"

I groaned and opened my eyes once more. The room I happened to be in was defiantly in the hospital. It was white everywhere; even the little furniture in here was white. One of the many reasons why I didn't like hospitals, they were so dull and smelled so sterile.

Once my eyes were done observing the room, they landed on my brother sitting on the right side of my bed. He looked worried, but relief was written all over his face. I watched has he took my hand in his and brought it up to his mouth to kiss it, with tears in his eyes. He held it up to his face in one hand, as he put his free one on my face. I flinched a little bit and hissed in pain.

"I'm sorry Roe," Adam muttered.

"It's fine," I sighed. "What am I doing here?"

"Dawn called me at work when you didn't come to work today. Asked me to go check on you, because you never missed a shift. When I got there the door was locked, but when I opened it and walked down the hall to the living room… there you were in the middle of it. Blood was everywhere. I thought I had lost you."

Tears were streaming down his face by now, and I wanted to make his pain go away. I don't think I have ever seen my brother cry as an adult. Yeah, he cried as a child, everyone does, but grown-up men think they shouldn't cry, no matter how bad the situation is. It broke my heart that he was crying over me.

"You could never lose me," I whispered hoarsely, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm not done being the annoying little sister you love to hate."

Sadly, this didn't make him laugh… not even a little. He just stared at me, and I didn't know how the expression and tears on his face made me feel. I know I didn't want him to cry over me even though I was his sister and he cared for me.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"A day," Adam answered, "give or take a few hours."

"Great."

I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to get my hurting body to relax. It was quiet and I could still feel my brother's eyes on me. This was defiantly not helping me relax. Sighing again – in frustration this time – I opened my eyes, and glanced over at Adam.

"What?" I muttered.

"What happened in the apartment yesterday?" he asked, bluntly.

"Adam–"

Before I can answer his question with a lie, there was a knock on the door. My brother and I looked in that direction and there was Hank standing there. He was still serious as ever and he meant business by the expression on his face. I could tell he was here to ask the hard questions and I wasn't sure if I could give them to him.

"Hi Sarg," Adam said.

He let go of my hand and stood up. Hank said his name in greeting but soon turned his attention to me. Just by looking at him I knew I wasn't going to be able to lie to him. It would have been easy to figure out something to tell my brother. He may or may not have believed it but I'm sure it would have gotten him off my back, but Voight was a different story. He will be able to see right through me.

"Hey Stringbean," Hank greeted with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing alright," I answered, "all things considered."

"That's good to hear."

The Sargent squinted over at my brother at that moment. You could see what he was about to say even before he said it.

"Adam, do you mind if I talk to your sister alone?" Voight questioned.

You could tell by the sound of his voice that it wasn't really a request, more like a demand. Of course, my brother heard it, just like I did, but he wasn't going to go away that easily.

"Voight," Adam muttered, looking at me and then back at him, "I can't leave her."

"It's fine Bubba," I told him taking his hand. "I'll be safe with him. He won't let anything happen to me."

Adam looked back down at me, and I could tell he knew I was right. He sighed and bent down to gave me a kiss on the forehead. I watched him leave my room, but once he was gone I turned my attention to Hank, who took the seat right next to me.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure you already know kid," he answered, "and I'm hoping you'll be truthful with me about it. I know you wouldn't be if you brother was around."

"Ask away then. There is no reason to lie. I'm also pretty sure you already know the answers to your questions."

"I do, but I still need you to tell me."

"I know."

"Good now… who did this to you?"

Hank let me take my time; he knew this was hard for me. I glanced down at my hands, searching for the words he needed to be said, even though they should be easy enough to say.

"Clay," I finally whispered. "Clay Lowell did this to me. I had just got home from having a girls' night with Erin and Kim. Jay had dropped me off at the apartment, and walked me in. I guess Clay had been at Molly's and saw I was with him. He beat me home and…"

"How did he get in?" Hank asked, saving me from finishing.

"He had a key."

"How did he get one?"

"I don't know. He didn't tell me."

"Has he been in your apartment when it was locked before?"

I didn't want to answer that one, but I knew I had to; I told him I wasn't going to lie to him. There really wasn't any reason for me not to be truthful to him. He must have been thinking the same thing because he was the one to break the silence.

"You told me you were going to be truthful," he reminded me.

"I know," I agreed.

"Then answer me. Has he been in your apartment when it was locked before or not?"

"Yes, he has."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was trying to handle it myself."

"Well that didn't go very well did it."

It was silent again, and I could feel him staring at me up and down. I was still looking away from him. There was no way I could look at him right now. Part of me was ashamed that I didn't go to him in the first place.

"I think you're hiding something from me," he finally stated. "There something else. What is it?"

I looked up at him and I could see the tears starting to pool in my eyes. There was no way I could keep this from him anymore. I just had to tell him.

"He said if I told anyone," I sobbed, as the tears began to fall down my cheeks, "he'd hurt them, or he'd kill them. I just couldn't let someone get hurt because of me."

"And why is that?"

"I'm not worth getting killed over Hank."

"Don't say that Stingbean. I know a lot of people who would anything for you because you mean a lot to them. Me, being one. I know it's not all your fault this happened. I should have checked in on you, but I just got busy. It's just as much your fault as it is mine."

"None of is your fault. I–"

"Don't say anything more. I'm not going to argue with you over it. We both have a part to play in this and that it. Now I'm going to head out. You need to sleep."

He got out of his seat and stared down at me. There was a small smile on his face and I returned it. I don't know what I would do without Hank Voight. He really was a good man.

"There is one more thing," Hank muttered.

"And what's that?" I asked.

"I spoke to your boss and got you some time off. You need it."

"How much time off?"

"As long as it takes to get this guy in cuffs."

"I have a feeling there is something else I'll be doing."

"There is. You'll be coming into work with your brother. You'll be helping us with this new case we're working on. We need a new set of eyes. Mostly you'll be working with our tech guy Mouse. At least we'll be able to keep an eye on you and don't say anything about it Stringbean, it's an order."

"Whatever you say Hank."

"Good. Now get some sleep. You need it"

"Thank you."

"No problem kid."

Then he left without another word. He must have been right about me needing sleep because it wasn't long after he left my eye started to get heavy. That's when the darkness took me over once more, and I was dragged into a dreamless sleep.

 **~J &M~**

A few days later I was still in the hospital; the doctors wanted to make sure everything was healing smoothly for the most part. I also think my brother had something to do with it. Considering my aslant hadn't been caught he wanted to know where I was at all times, even though I would be going to work with him just as soon as I was able to do so.

I mostly slept; I was still so tired after my attack. Of course, I had visitors, which consisted of Erin and the rest of the Intelligence Unit, along with Kim and her new partner, Sean Roman. Hell, even Trudy came to see me, and she brought me flowers. She looked like she was really worried about me… they all did. The only person who didn't show up was Jay, and I didn't understand why. I didn't have my thoughts about that, but I decided to wait a little longer.

On the third day of me being in the hospital, I was woken up by my brother's phone going off. He quickly silenced it, and I about got back to sleep, but was soon interrupted by his phone going off again. I groaned and opened my eyes to look over at Adam. He had an apologetic expression on his face, before he answered it phone.

"Hey babe," he greeted. "I can't talk right now."

I narrowed my eyes at him angrily. So, I couldn't have just a few days with my brother without her calling him around the clock. I was surprised that she let him have this much time with me.

"I'm with my sister," Adam muttered softly.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I held back a hiss of pain. My sibling new I was angry just by looking at my face and body language. I could hear her practically whining on the phone to come be with her.

"I know we have wedding details to go through," he told her, "but I have to be with my sister right now."

"Oh for god sakes," I growled angry, "just go and talk to her outside. I don't want to hear her whining on the damn phone."

He wanted to protest, but he bit his tongue when he saw the serious look on my face. After one last glance at me he got up and walked out of the room. I could feel tears behind my eyes and I closed them until the prickling sensation went away. When I opened them, Jay was standing in the doorway, with a small smile on his face.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hi," I whispered. "I thought you weren't coming."

"I couldn't stay away from you even if I tried Grace. Of course, I would have been here sooner, but your brother wasn't too keen on letting me come and see you."

"Why am I not surprised?"

He walked over to me and took the seat by my bed. The smile was still on his lips and I couldn't help but return it. After my brother's phone call, this was exactly what I needed. I could tell him how happy I was to see him right now. He would never know how much me made me feel safe. For some reason, he was the only person to make me feel so protected.

"What made you come here today?" I asked.

"I've been here since I heard you were in the hospital," Jay confessed, "to be completely honest."

"I wouldn't want you to miss work because of me."

"I didn't, but I did come here as soon as I was done for the day. I was hoping Adam would leave and give me some time to sneak in."

"I guess your patience won out then."

"I guess it did."

Without thinking I turned my hand over, and without hesitation he took it. He brought it up to his face and kissed the back of it. Warmth spread throughout my body like it always did when he touched me. We sat there in a comfortable silence for a while, just staring at each other happily. Then his warm blue eyes got serious. I knew something unpleasant was about to be said.

"My heart stopped when Will called me," Jay sighed. "I came here as soon as I hung up. By then your brother was here and the doctors wouldn't tell me anything. Even my brother couldn't tell me anything, and he usually does. It was so frustrating."

"I'm sorry," I muttered.

"There is no reason to be sorry."

"I didn't mean to put you through that."

"It's not your fault. You didn't ask for this to happen to you."

"It kind of is."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because… because I knew who did this to me.

I looked down at our hands, which were now laying on the bed. Jay let me take my take in telling him what really happened. Somehow, I couldn't find the words to say things that should be easy to say.

"You don't have to tell me Grace," he whispered.

"His name is," I began slowly, ignoring him, "Clay. He has been stalking me for a year or so. I had just found out recently. My brother didn't believe me so I thought no one else would. Plus, at first I thought I could handle him, but then he started to get violent. I finally told Hank, but I never got a chance to update him.

"Somehow, he found out and he showed up to my house. He told me if I told anyone that someone would get hurt. Then he saw me with you. He told me if I were to been seen with you, then he would do something to hurt you. I couldn't let that happen."

When I turned my attention back to Jay tears were streaming down my face. The expression on his face sad, but understanding. He took his free hand and put it on my face. I leaned into his touch, enjoying the feeling of his skin on mine.

"I won't let him hurt you again," he muttered. "He will never touch you like this again. Hank and I will find him and we will put him away for a very long time. I promise."

"You have this big case to solve," I stated, "that's too important to be on the back burner to finding a stalker."

"Your important too. I know you don't see it, but I do, and I will show you just how important to me you are."

My eyes were wide as saucers, and I searched his face for any signs that he was lying. He was looking me in the eye as he spoke so he couldn't have been lying… or at least I hoped he wasn't. I was about to tell him I believed him, but never got the chance to speak.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" my brother growled from the door.

Jay turned around to glance in the direction of my brother and my attention was pulled to him. He looked like he was going strangle the man beside me. I was just as angry was Adam, because he had no right to be mad at Jay. At least someone seemed to care about me and nothing else.

"I want you out of my sister's room right now," Adam ordered.

"Don't you dare start anything here Adam," I snarled. "You have no right to kick him out of here. It is my room as you said and if anyone should be kicked out of it, it's you. Jay stays. You can get out of here right now. Go be with Wendy! She's definitely more important, considering you had to take her damn phone call."

"Roe, I–"

"Get out now!"

He wanted to say more I could see it in his eyes, but I glared at him with just as much intensity. I was going to bring a nurse or even security to get him out of here if I had to. Thank god, I didn't have too; after a few more seconds of the staring contest Adam soon stomped out of my room, and left Jay and me alone. We sat there in a comfortable silence for a while; he had turned back around, taking my hand into his once again. He was proud of me, I could see it in his eyes, and he had a smile on his face.

"You know," he said breaking the silence, "you didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did," I muttered. "He needed to know he couldn't run my life. Plus, he had better things to do."

"Which is?"

"He has to plan a wedding with his precious fiancée."

"I'm sorry."

"Forget about it. Not your fault."

"I know, but he shouldn't do the things he has done. I feel bad for the hurt I have caused you. He should too."

"I already forgave you for that."

"Yea, but that doesn't mean I don't still feel guilty for it."

I smiled tenderly at him; he was such a sweet man. I was glad I had him back in my life. Who knows what I would do without him. Just then my eyes started to get heavy and I let out a yawn.

"You better get some sleep," Jay informed me.

"Don't leave," I breathed.

"I'll stay here for as long as you need me. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?"

"I promised."

He sat up from his chair to kiss my forehead, then sat back down and made himself comfortable; my hand was still in his. The heaviness in my eyes got stronger and I slowly started to fall back into the darkness. The last thing I heard before I was completely out, was him whispering his nickname for me, and then I was gone to the world.


	19. Chapter 18

_**Dear Readers,**_

 _ **I'm so, so, so sorry it's taken me so long to get this out. I just noticed that I started this on 5/12/19. This was mostly a filler chapter so it was a little hard to think what to do with it. To be honest I never thought I would get this far. I'm glad you readers are enjoying what I put out for you.**_

 _ **Another reason I haven't got this out yet was because, once again, I didn't have the motivation to write. I really appreciate it when readers comment and review. It helps with the motivation. I would also appreciate if you could tell me what you would like to see happen. To be honest I am having problems figure out what to do with some of these filler chapters. Probably one of the biggest reason why it takes me so long to get chapters out.**_

 _ **I hope you readers enjoy this chapter and again I am sorry it took me so long to get this out to you. Please comment and review so I know how things are going.**_

 _ **M**_

 _ **Chapter 18.**_

 _ **New Roommates**_

Friday was the next day and thankfully I was released from the hospital. My apartment was still a crime scene so I wasn't a loud to go home. Before it was sealed off Kim was able get a bag full of my clothes and the rest of my essentials (such as toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, etc.). I had no idea how long it would be until I could return so I was more than grateful to her to do that for me. I didn't want to go shopping for things I already had at home.

Sadly, I didn't have a place to go which was a big problem. I definitely wasn't going to stay with my brother and Wendy – I rather die than be in that situation – and I really didn't want to spend money on a hotel room. The next place I could stay would either be with Kim or Erin; they would have let me stay with no problem. When I brought my worries up with Jay, he told me not to worry about it because I would be staying with him and Will until I could go back home. I didn't know how to feel about this, but it didn't look like I had much of a choice.

After my discharge papers were signed, I was put in a wheelchair and Jay wheeled me out to the parking lot. I didn't know how this arrangement was going to work. I just hoped I wasn't going to be a bother to Will. He lived there and I was the one barging into his living space without asking. Who knew how this was going to go?

When we got into the parking lot I looked around for his Mustang, but there wasn't any parked in the spaces that I could see. Instead Jay wheeled me toward a four door, black GMC Sierra. This was the first time I had seen this vehicle and was kind of confused.

"Uh…" I muttered, "where's the Mustang?"

"I thought it would be safer if we took the truck," Jay stated.

"How long have you had this?"

"A few years. I mostly use it during the winter and the Mustang in the summer. It's easier to drive through the snow with this."

I thought about it as we got to the vehicle; it did make sense. As I was thinking he opened the door and effortlessly picked me up to put me in the truck. I tensed until he put me down in my seat. He was nice enough to put my seatbelt on for me, even though I protested. With one of his signature smiles, he just shook his head telling me not to worry about it.

Once he had my seatbelt in place and knew that I was okay for now, he closed the truck door and took the wheelchair back to a waiting nurse. I watched him the whole time trying to figure out what I had done to have Jay put into my life. He thanked the nurse and ran back to the truck. It didn't take him long to opened the door and hop in. He gave me another smile before putting the key in the ignition and starting the vehicle.

It was a quiet drive to his apartment, but it was a comfortable silence, like always. He was the only person I could sit with and not have to feel like we had to talk the whole time. It was really refreshing and something I could definitely get used to. For once I did want to get used to something, which was odd for me.

After we were at his place it took a lot of protesting so he wouldn't carry me up the stairs. Instead he opted for my overnight bag, but stayed close to me just to make sure I wouldn't fall. My legs were still kind of shaky from staying in bed for so long, but they still got me to where I needed to be.

When we got into the apartment I saw a figure running back and forth in the living room. I stopped just as we got into the doorway. The panic started to set in and my breath started getting shallow. It didn't take long for Jay to realize what was going on. He put a protective hand on my waste and leaned close to my ear.

"It's okay Grace," he murmured. "Breathe. It's just Will."

His words finally sank in and I grasped the fact that he was right. Clay didn't know where I was hopefully and the only likely person to be here was Will because this was his apartment too. I felt silly even thinking there was someone trying to kill me here. Jay told me he would keep me safe and I believed him.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking up at him with a small smile. "I wasn't thinking."

"You're fine," Jay smiled. "After everything you've been through I can understand why you'd be scared."

He helped me walk into the living room where Will was still running around. He looked like he was cleaning, and stopped when he saw us standing there watching him.

"Hey Monroe," Will greeted.

Standing up straight, he gave me a nervous smile. He had what looked like a shirt in his hand and he quickly put it behind his back.

"Hi Will," I said giving him a smile of my own.

Gazing around, I saw their apartment was pretty clean even though it was owned by men, but I guess that's what Will was trying to get done before I got here. The couch was fairly ordinary along with the reclining chair both a tan color. When it came to the walls – which were painted a dark green – they were pretty bare except for a few posters hanging around from bands I didn't even know.

That was just the living room. Not far away from that there was the kitchen which was cut off by a breakfast bar, with three tall chairs. The room wasn't very big but it was good enough for the two men who lived here. Next to the kitchen was the hallway that lead to the bathroom and bedrooms; or that was my guess anyway.

"So," Will muttered breaking the silence, "welcome to your home away from home."

"I appreciate it," I chuckled. "Thank you again for letting me stay with you while the police take over my place."

"You don't have to thank us. My big brother here can breathe easier having me around."

"Ok, that's enough of that," Jay jumped in, before I could even question what was said. "How about I take you to where you'll be sleeping?"

I smiled up at the man beside me while Will laughed. Jay's face was slightly red with embarrassment and he scratched the back of his neck; uncomfortable by what his younger brother had revealed to me. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing too. He was even cuter when he was flustered. The butterflies – that lived in my stomach now – started going crazy, and I had to look away before I started blushing myself.

Not saying anything, I let Jay walked me down the hall, past one bedroom and a bathroom on the right. At the end of the hall there was a door on the right which I had to guess was the bedroom I would be staying in. The only problem I had with this was, there were only two rooms.

When Jay opened the door, he let me go in first. There was a queen-sized bed on the wall near the entryway with two end tables on both sides and lamps sitting on the tops. On the back wall was a window and on the next one a dresser stood up against it. A closet was on the last wall and the door was closed, and beside that was a door that led to the bathroom – this was going to be convenient because I don't know how far I could walk by myself with falling. The room was painted a dark blue with nothing hanging around. Everything was very simple, but so was Jay.

He led me to the bed and helped me sit down. I watched him as he went over to his dresser and set my overnight bag by it. Looking away as he came back toward me, I glanced at anything but him. I didn't want him to know I was staring at him like a creepy person.

"We can put those away when you're feeling better," he stated.

"Sounds good," I agreed.

"Are you tired?"

"Kind of."

"Maybe you should try to get some rest. The doctor said you might need it."

"I'm tired of sleeping."

"I know, but you need rest–"

"So, my body can heal. I know, I know."

I had been looking away from him when I said this, so when I looked up at him he had that smile on his face which meant he was trying not to laugh. Trying to glare at him was the best I could do, but rolling my eyes hopefully got my point across. Giving up on that I took another look at the bed, turning around a little to see how big it was. It wasn't a king sized but it was big enough to fit two people comfortably. I mean it wouldn't have been too bad to sleep in the same bed as him. That didn't mean that I wasn't a little anxious about it.

"What's that matter?" Jay asked, when he saw what I was doing.

Turning back to put my attention back on him, I gave him a sheepish smile. I knew it was going to come to this, from the moment he told me I was going to be staying with him and Will. Now that I think about it I should have brought it up to him then.

"Well," I muttered looking down at my hands, "I was just wondering who was going to sleep where."

It was quiet for a few seconds, but soon I heard Jay take a few steps toward me. Soon, kneeling down, his handsome face was in front of me. He looked like he was trying not to laugh, but his eyes were full of kindness. My heart swelled, and the butterflies started to flutter in my stomach once more.

"Is that what's really bothering you?" he asked softly.

All I could do was nod. When he was this close it was hard to come up with a coherent thought. Sometimes I pondered if he knew the effect he had on me. I also couldn't help but wonder if I had any on him.

"Well Grace," he said, bring me out of my thoughts, "I was going to sleep on the couch. I thought that would be the best thing in this situation."

' _Always the gentlemen,_ ' I thought.

"I can sleep on the couch," I volunteered out loud. "This is your bed after all Jay. I don't want to impose."

"Don't worry about it," he muttered with a shrug. "You need it more than I do right now. In all honesty, I mostly sleep on the couch anyway. I'll be fine."

No matter how much I tried to argue with him, he kept telling me it was more than okay for me to take the bed. After a few minutes of bickering I finally gave up and laid down. I was already in sweatpants and a comfortable t-shirt so I didn't have to change, which was a blessing in my opinion. Jay told me that he'd wake me up for lunch in a few hours. I watched him stand up and walk out the door, closing it behind him. Thankfully it didn't take me long to fall into a dreamless sleep.

 **-J &M-**

And this is how it went for the first day. When I wasn't sleeping then I was running to the bathroom, or Jay was helping me to the kitchen to eat. I really didn't want to eat in bed, even though he said it was alright for me to do so.

Kim and Erin even came by for about a half hour just to see how I was doing. It was nice to see them and I was glad they stopped by. As they left they both winked at me when Jay wasn't watching. I just rolled my eyes and waved goodbye.

When bedtime came, the blue eyed, persistent detective made sure I took my pain meds. This was the part that I hate because I wasn't a big fan of taking medication after hearing all the horror stories about them. I even tried declining them when Jay brought them to me with a glass of water – saying I was fine. That didn't go over very well and I groaned but took them anyway.

Once that was over he waited outside the bathroom door while I put my PJ's on and brushed my teeth. When I was done brushing I decided to finally look at myself in the mirror to see what has been done to me. I've been putting this off since the moment I woke up in the hospital.

I took a deep breath in and letting it out before glancing up. After I did a gasp escaped my lips. I didn't think I was going to look this bad. Under my right eye and on my left jaw there were bruises all different shades of colors a bruise could be. Up in my hair line on the right side of my face there was a cut that needed three stitches and my lip was split down the middle. I didn't even want to see what my torso looked like. I could use my imagination from that the doctor told me; more bruises all over considering I had bruised, cracked, and broken ribs on both sides of my body. I was glad I couldn't see my back because the doctor also said I had bruising there too because Clad had kicked me. I don't remember most of it and I guessed it was a good thing I didn't It was going to be a long time before all this was going to be gone. Until then I hoped I didn't look in the mirror a lot. I looked that bad.

There was a knock on the door soon after – I didn't know how long I stood there taking in the aftermath of what Clay had done to me. Jay's voice came through asking me if I was alright. I told him I was fine and that I'd be out in a minute.

When I came out of the bathroom he helped me over to the bed and I laid down. He even tucked me in and kissed me on the forehead. His lips linger just a little bit longer than necessary and that was just enough time for my heart rate to increase dramatically.

"Sleep well Grace," he muttered when he leaned away.

"You too Jay," I whispered.

"Good night."

"Night."

He got up from the bed and turned out the bedside lamp before closing the door behind him. The pain meds kicked in fast and I fell asleep fairly quickly.

 **-J &M-**

 _His hand was in my hair pulling my head back painfully as I laid on the floor. I don't know where my gun went after he knocked it out of my hand. It must have slid somewhere out of my reach. My vision was going in and out but there was no way I could stop it._

 _My head was killing me and I could feel something warm run down my face. I wasn't too sure but I think after his second blow to my face, my head hit the coffee table._

 _"I told you what would happen plenty of times Pretty Girl," Clay growled in my ear. "I gave you so many chances, but did you listen to me?"_

 _He let go of my hair and let me drop to the ground. Letting out a groan when my head hit the floor, I heard Clay walk away. I lifted my head to see if I find my gun laying anywhere, but my eyes were going in and out of focus._

 _Next thing I know I feel something land on my back really hard and then an unbearable pain spread from the contact. A cry escaped from my throat before I could keep it in._

 _"I'm going to make you behave if it's the last thing I do," he screamed._

 _He hit me over and over again, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. I tried to crawl away but he followed me. I don't know how long it took him to stop but it seemed like it took forever. I could hear myself panting from the pain and from all the blows. Everything hurt and I wish it would stop._

 _I felt his hand on one of my shoulders right before he flipped me over. He straddled my waste before he grabbed both of my upper arms and start to shake me._

 _"Let me go," I moaned. "Please just let me go."_

 _"Grace, you need to wake up," Clay said._

 _But it was Clay's voice coming out of his mouth… it was…_

"It's just a dream," I heard Jay yell. "Wake up Grace, it's just a dream."

My eyes flew open and blue, concerned eyes looked down at me… not the evil brown ones I'd been staring at moments before. I looked at my surroundings and realized I wasn't at my home but in Jay's bed in his apartment. He was sitting beside me, his hands still on my shoulders. When he saw I was awake and looking at him he let out a sigh of relief.

"You're awake," he muttered taking his hands off my shoulders, "good."

"It was just a nightmare," I whispered, leaning back into my pillow. "Just a nightmare."

Closing my eyes, I ran my hands over my face. I was covered in a cold sweat and shaking like crazy. That was the first time I dreamed about what had happened. In the hospital, I was probably too drugged up to dream. I rather be dreamless than live through all that again.

I opened my eyes and looked around the room. Jay was still looking at me his eyes full of concern, and from the corner of my eye I saw Will standing in the doorway. He didn't look as worried as his older brother, but he did show some worry about it me.

"I'm sorry I woke you two up," I apologized, after I'd calmed down a little. "I hadn't had a dream since I was in the hospital."

"There is no reason for you to apologize." Will said. "After everything that happened to you, I would have been surprised if you weren't having nightmares about it."

"Will's right," Jay agreed. "You're fine Grace."

It was silent for a few minutes, while we all calmed down –me more than Jay and Will. I had stopped shaking, but I was still a little freaked out about the dream. By how I was feeling, I knew I wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon.

"I'm going to head back to bed," Will stated, breaking the silence. "You two good?"

"I'm fine," I said, shaking my head.

"I'm good too," Jay nodded.

Will told us goodnight – which we repeated in return – before heading back to his room. I watched him as he disappeared from the doorway. Feeling Jay staring at me, I glanced back at him. He looked relieved, but also still concerned.

"Would you like some water?" he asked.

I nodded my head yes, and followed his every move as he got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom. I heard the water turn on for a few seconds before it was shut off. Jay walked out of the bathroom with a cup in his hand which he gave to me when he reached the bed. I took it from him and he sat down beside me once more as I started to drink it.

When I was done, Jay took the cup from me and set it on the bedside table. We sat in our comfortable silence again, and I could feel myself getting tired again, but I didn't want to sleep. I didn't want to see that face in my sleep anymore.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jay asked.

I looked up at him and his expression was soft and gentle. His eyes were as light a blue as I had ever seen them and it didn't take me long to get lost.

"There's nothing to talk about," I finally answered. "Just about what happened."

"Do you remember anything more?"

"Just how I got the bruises on my back."

Never taking my eyes off Jay's, I saw them get a little darker. He slowly took his right hand and gently touched my face. I sucked in a breath, but didn't flinch away from him – in fact, I leaned into it. The feeling of his skin touching mine made me warm all over. I didn't want it to stop.

"He'll never touch you again," he vowed. "I'll make sure of it."

"You can't make a promise like that," I murmured.

"I can and I am. He'll have to kill me first."

"I won't let you die because of me."

"I would if I had to."

"Jay–"

He moved closer to me, faster than my brain could keep up and it took me by surprise. His face was just a few inches away from mine. My eyes were wide and once more, I couldn't take them off his. His hand never left the side of my face and he moved to the back of my neck to hold me steady. I couldn't move even if I wanted too. He was so close and his eyes held so much promise.

"No matter what you say," Jay whispered strongly, "I won't let anything happen to you. He will never touch you again. I care a lot about you and I will do what I have to, to keep you safe. You are worth something to me. Nothing will ever change that."

I kept staring at him as his words sank in. No one, not even my own brother who was the closest to me, ever made me feel so wanted. I wanted to believe him, I really did, but after everything that has happened to me in my life, it was so hard to take his words at face value. Hopefully in time he would show me he was telling me the truth. I just hoped I would live long enough to see it.

"It's time for you to go back to sleep," Jay said, breaking the small silence.

"I can't," I whispered. "I'll see his face again and I don't want too."

"You need sleep Grace."

Not knowing what to do at this point, I leaned my forehead against his. I sighed and closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of him being close. I couldn't be in this room alone. The nightmares would just keep coming back worse than they did before. I wouldn't get any sleep if that happened. So, I took a deep breath and said something I never thought I would say.

"Would you stay with me?" I asked.

"What?" Jay said, pulling back from me slightly.

I opened my eyes and he was searching my face. He was wondering if he heard me right.

"I said, would you stay with me," I repeated.

A small half smile came to his lips and I was glad the tension was broken. I didn't like to see him so serious… not in this way. The blue in Jay's eyes lightened up some and the butterflies started to flutter again.

"Will that help?" he asked.

"I don't know," I confessed, "but I can't be alone right now."

"I understand. Now lay down. Let's get you back to sleep."

He let his hand fall, and he stood up. The warm feeling I had when he touched me was gone once his hand left my skin. I didn't like it at all. I gave him a curious look, but I didn't question him. I laid back down on my side facing away from him, and he turned off the bedside lamp. Hearing him walked over to the other side of the bed, I soon felt the bed give way.

Next thing I know Jay puts his arm around me and pulled me close. I tense up for a few seconds before slowly getting used to the feeling of being this close to someone and having them hold me like this. When I was semi-comfortable with the sensation, I laid my head on his chest and snuggled close.

"Get some sleep," Jay muttered kissing the top of my head. "Night Grace."

"Night Jay," I sighed.

I don't know how long I laid there, but soon I felt myself drifting off to sleep. Thankfully for the rest of the night, the only thing I dreamed about was a set of light blue eyes.


End file.
